The Oklahoma City Thunder are not expected to make much noise in the 2021-22 NBA season.
But what happened Thursday night was inexcusable.
The Thunder took on the Memphis Grizzlies and trailed 31-16 after the first quarter.
It only got worse from there en route to a 152-79 defeat to make NBA history.
Memphis Grizzlies 152 Oklahoma City Thunder 79: Biggest margin of victory in NBA history.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) December 3, 2021
The final score itself is enough to question what exactly went on.
But digging into the numbers reveals some truly mind-boggling statistics.
Highlights From The Historic Box Score
The worst plus/minus total was held by the Thunder’s Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, who only played 24 minutes as a starter.
Yet he managed to rack up a minus-56 mark in two quarters of play.
That is almost impossible to do and warrants a double-take.
The best mark from the game came courtesy of Memphis’ Santi Aldama, who reached plus-52 in 28 minutes off the bench.
The starters on both sides did not play much in this one, leaving the benches to duke it out in the second half.
But the Grizzlies bench took it to the Thunder reserves the same way the starters did.
The bench was emptied and the Grizzlies still managed to have a 39-17 margin in the fourth quarter.
Oklahoma City now has two terrible NBA records.
This game marks the largest road loss and largest loss in general in NBA history.
It was not too long ago, this year in fact, when the Thunder set a mark for the largest home loss in NBA history.
Last May, the Thunder lost a home game by 57 points to the Pacers.
Tonight, they lost a road game by 73 points to the Grizzlies.
The Thunder now have the largest road loss and the largest home loss in NBA history. pic.twitter.com/tyq3Im2CIQ
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 3, 2021
That came via a 152-95 final against the Indiana Pacers in what seemed like rock bottom.
But a team in a rebuilding phase can always find new depths and the Thunder may only get worse from here.
This 73-point defeat against the Grizzlies came without Ja Morant in the lineup.
Imagine how bad it could have been if he even played just 10 minutes in the game.
NEXT: Are The Oklahoma City Thunder Smart Or Just Building False Hope?
