Grizzlies bury Thunder by 73, an NBA record
The Grizzlies shattered the NBA record for margin of victory Thursday night, beating the Thunder 152-79 in Memphis, Tennessee.
The 73-point margin easily topped the previous mark of 68 points, set in the Cavaliers’ 148-80 win over the Heat on Dec. 17, 1991.
The Grizzlies (12-10) used 12 players, nine of whom reached double figures in scoring, with Jaren Jackson Jr.’s 27 points leading the way. And the Grizzlies were even without their best player, injured guard Ja Morant. The score was 7236 at halftime; the Grizzlies led by 78 at one point in the second half.
The Thunder flirted with being on the wrong end of the record last season, trailing the Pacers by 67 points on May 1 before losing by merely 57 points, 152-95.
The Grizzlies set a franchise record for shooting, making 62.5% of their shots. De’Anthony Melton scored 19 points, Santi Aldama scored 18 and John Konchar scored 17, and none of those three players even started.
† Cam Johnson and Cameron Payne scored 19 points each to lead the Suns (19-3) to their franchiserecord 18th win in a row, beating the visiting Pistons 114-103.
The Suns won despite not having leading scorer Devin Booker for the first time this season. The twotime All-Star suffered a left hamstring injury in the second quarter Tuesday against the Warriors.
† LeBron James is cleared to return to the Lakers after missing one game under the NBA’s health and safety protocols. The league said James is not positive for COVID-19 despite a series of tests with conflicting results earlier this week. Additional testing cleared James to play Friday night against the Clippers.
COLLEGES Flames fall short at home
Zion Griffin’s game-high 24 points weren’t enough to push UIC to victory as the Flames (2-5) fell 81-77 to Oakland (6-2) at the Pavilion.
† Virginia football coach Bronco Mendenhall announced he’s stepping down after six seasons once he coaches the Cavaliers (6-6) in their bowl game.
† Nebraska quarterback Adrian Martinez, a three-time captain, announced he will enter the transfer portal.
HOCKEY Wolves allow Wild nothing
Alex Lyon rejected all 30 shots he faced in the Wolves’ 2-0 win over the Iowa Wild at Allstate Arena. Defenseman Jesper Sellgren and forward Sam Miletic scored for the Central Division-leading Wolves (124-1-1), who won their fourth straight.