The Biggest Winning Margins In NBA History

Being a high-scoring, stamina-draining sport, basketball has a propensity for generating large margins of victory. This is particularly the case in the NBA, where rebuilding teams eventually have to meet the best of the best.

It won’t come as a surprise that margins of victory clocking in at 50 or more points aren’t overly uncommon, so for this ranking of the biggest wins in NBA history, we’re starting from the 60-point winning margin mark.

73 Points: Memphis Grizzlies 152-79 Oklahoma City Thunder

In December 2021, the Memphis Grizzlies proved the relentless power of the team’s depth – even with Ja Morant out of action – against an Oklahoma City Thunder deep in a rebuild.

Showcasing the gulf between those surging in the NBA and those looking for the upswing, the Grizzlies put up a 36-point lead by the half and continued to dunk on the Thunder to the final buzzer.

While Memphis remains a force in the Western Conference, Oklahoma City look primed to usurp them if the NBA odds for the championship are anything to go by.

68 Points: Cleveland Cavaliers 148-80 Miami Heat

Way back in December 1991, before LeBron James took the league by storm with both the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Miami Heat, the two would set one of the largest winning margins in NBA history.

In the opening 17 minutes, Mark Price of the Cavs set the tone, scoring 18 points to help amass a menacing lead. As the bench came into play, the points just kept on ticking up, leaving the Heat the 148-80 losers.

65 Points: Indiana Pacers 124-59 Portland Trail Blazers

Boasting Rasheed Wallace and Arvydas Sabonis, the 97/98 Portland Trail Blazers had a decent team – one that earned a 46-36 record, sixth in the conference, and a place in the postseason.

This obliteration by the Indiana Pacers was certainly more of an outlier. The team that would end the campaign 58-24 oversaw a total team effort to put up one of the biggest victories in NBA history with a 65-point win margin.

63 Points: Los Angeles Lakers 162-99 Golden State Warriors

Not quite the overwhelmingly dominant, persistent frontrunners in the betting to win the NBA Championship, the Golden State Warriors in March 1972 succumbed to one of the largest scoreline margins in NBA history.

Coming in with Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West, perhaps the most surprising aspect of the 162-99 win was that both were held to less than 18 points, while Gail Goodrich threw down 30 for himself.

62 Points: Oklahoma City Thunder 139-77 Portland Trail Blazers

In just January 2024, Oklahoma City Thunder put up a 62-point winning margin to secure one of the biggest wins in NBA history, smashing the Portland Trail Blazers 139-77.

The Trail Blazers already had their eyes on the future, having just sent Damian Lillard away, and the offence had struggled for much of the season, but Oklahoma’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander proved even more effective than expected, scoring 31 points in the game.

62 Points: Golden State Warriors 153-91 Sacramento Kings

Another entry into the largest winning margins in the NBA ever to have 62 points between the two teams, this time, the Golden State Warriors were on the winning side of the 153-91 scoreline.

The game in November 1991 saw Šarūnas Marčiulionis put up 27 points and Chris Mullin score 32, seeing the Dubs to a complete demolition job of their state rivals, the Sacramento Kings.

62 Points: Syracuse Nationals 162-100 New York Knicks

The oldest entry onto this list of the NBA’s biggest wins on record, this December 1960 clash would stand as the ultimate blowout victory for many years.

Ending the season with the second overall pick, the New York Knicks were lowly foes at the time, but seeing 162 put down on them was still a humiliating experience.

61 Points: Charlotte Hornets 140-79 Memphis Grizzlies

While they do own the record for the largest winning margin the NBA has ever seen, the Memphis Grizzlies also make the cut as a team on the losing side of one of the biggest blowouts in league history.

Neither team entered this March 2018 game with strong records, perhaps leading many to expect a low-scoring game. Kemba Walker had other ideas, putting up 46 points to help secure a monstrous win for the Hornets.

60 Points: Miami Heat 142-82 Portland Trail Blazers

Making their third entry onto the list and, once again, being on the losing side of a big NBA blowout, in this March 2024 meet, it was the Miami Heat who were scoring for fun against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Over the course of the game, Bam Adebayo, Terry Rozier, Haywood Highsmith, and Thomas Bryant scored at least 20 points en route to the 142-82 triumph.