Thunder beat Grizzlies 131-80 in Recreation 1, fifth-biggest margin of victory in NBA postseason historical past

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-80 in Recreation 1 of their first-round Western Convention playoff sequence on Sunday, the fifth-biggest margin of victory in NBA postseason historical past.

The 51-point margin was seven factors shy of the document and was the most important Recreation 1 win in NBA playoff historical past.

Jalen Williams scored 20 factors and Chet Holmgren had 19 factors and 10 rebounds. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s scoring champion with almost 33 factors per sport, scored simply 15. The Thunder nonetheless shot 50.5% from the sphere.

Oklahoma Metropolis, which completed the regular-season with a league-best 68-14 document, seemed each bit the a part of an general No. 1 seed.

There have been two 58-point playoff margins in NBA historical past: Denver beating New Orleans 121-63 in 2009 and the Minneapolis Lakers beating the St. Louis Hawks 133-75 in 1956.

Ja Morant scored 17 factors for Memphis on simply 6-for-17 taking pictures. Jaren Jackson Jr., who averaged simply over 22 factors within the common season, scored 4 factors on 2-for-13 taking pictures. Marvin Bagley III additionally scored 17, however the Grizzlies shot simply 34.4% general.

This was Memphis’ first playoff sport underneath interim coach Tuomas Iisalo. He coached simply 9 NBA regular-season video games earlier than the play-in video games.

The Los Angeles Lakers beat Golden State by 56 (126-70) in 1973 and the Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks by 54 (120-66) in 2015. And now, a 51-point sport — the place the Thunder had it nicely in hand by early within the second quarter. They took a 35-point lead into halftime.

Recreation 2 is Tuesday.