Grizzlies set mark in rout of Thunder

MEMPHIS — The Memphis Grizzlies broke the NBA record for margin of victory on Thursday night, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 152-79.

The 73-point margin easily topped the previous mark, which was 68 in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 148-80 win over the Miami Heat on Dec. 17, 1991.

Memphis used 12 players, and nine of them reached double figures in scoring, with Jaren Jackson Jr.’s 27 points leading the way. The Grizzlies were without their best player, injured guard Ja Morant, but they were ahead 72-36 at halftime and just kept adding to the lead, pulling ahead by 78 at one juncture.

The Thunder flirted with being on the wrong end of the record last season, trailing the Indiana Pacers by 67 points on May 1 before rallying — such as it was — to lose by merely 57 points, 152-95.

This was worse. Historically worse.

The Grizzlies set a franchise record for shooting, making 62.5% of their attempts from the field. De’Anthony Melton scored 19 points, Santi Aldama 18 and John Konchar 17 for the Grizzlies, and all three came off the bench.

No Memphis starter played more than 21 minutes. Lu Dort led the Thunder with 15 points, and Oklahoma City shot only 33%.

It was 12-8 after five minutes. From there, there was no stopping Memphis. The Grizzlies outscored the Thunder by 15 points in each of the four quarters.

The Thunder lost their eighth straight as they continued to play short-handed with a number of players unavailable, including leading scorer Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who entered concussion protocol earlier Thursday. The former Hamilton Heights Christian Academy star scored 39 points against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night but suffered a blow to the head late in the game.