Biggest Blowout in NBA History: Which Teams Are Involved in It?

A blowout is not a technical term but is commonly used in the world of basketball, it describes a situation in which a team wins a game by a very large margin in the matchup. There is a certain level of competency in the pro-basketball league like NBA and such blowouts are quite rare in the league. Yet when the teams went under a transition period or a rebuilding period in the NBA, they encountered a team with championship-level caliber on the other end.

Another reason for such high-scoring games with a large margin is that the losing team misses their star players or they are injured during the season. Such conditions add to the teams that rank on the list of the teams with the biggest blowouts in NBA history.

Ranking Teams That Were Involved in the Biggest Blowout in NBA

In the past four decades, the NBA has witnessed the top 10 games with the biggest blowouts. However, there are some cases where the blowout victory is from the golden period of the NBA before the 1980s when there was domination of Big Men in the league. Also, whenever a team enters the zone completely at one point in time, the blowout victories occur in the league. Previously we have ranked the most missed shots in the NBA and now on the basis of ESPN data, we have the following teams that have experienced the biggest blowout wins in NBA history.

#10 Milwaukee Bucks vs Detroit Pistons (143-84)

Points Difference: 59 points
Year: 1978
Milwaukee Bucks completely dominated this fixture since all of their scorers made double-digit buckets, with Kevin Restani and Quinn Buckner leading the points table. Buckner dropped 12 points, while Restani tallied 22 points. Even with players like Earl Tatum, Bob Lanier, and Kevin Porter, the Pistons were not able to recover from the margin that they gave away to the Bucks.

It was a regular season game, and with a 59-point defeat, Detroit Pistons registered their name in the history of teams with the biggest blowouts in NBA history.

#9 Miami Heat vs Portland Trail Blazers (142-82)

Points Difference: 60 points
Year: 2024
It was the largest margin victory in the history of the Miami Heat franchise as they defeated the Portland Trail Blazers by 60-point margin on March 28, 2024. Bam Adebayo led the charge with 21 points, 11 rebounds, and nine assists. Along with Bam, there were other players in the Heat squad who scored more than 20 points, like Thomas Bryant (26 points), Terry Rozier (22 points), and Haywood Highsmith(20 points).

Jerami Grant and Anfernee Simmons could not contribute from the Portland side due to their injuries. Only Scoot Henderson from their end scored 20 points during the game.

#8 Charlotte Hornets vs Memphis Grizzlies (140-79)

Points Difference: 61 points
Year: 2018
The Memphis Grizzlies extremely missed Marc Gasol and Mike Conley. Eventually, Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets destroyed the whole Memphis roster with his shooting from the perimeter. In that matchup, he made 10 three-pointers and scored 46 points in total to get his team victory during the showdown with a margin of 61 points.

This match occurred on March 23, 2018, and it was the biggest franchise-level victory for the Charlotte Hornets in the NBA, setting up new hopes for better performance in the league. But it was more of a one-match show.

#7 Oklahoma City Thunder vs Portland Trail Blazers (139-77)

Points Difference: 62 points
Year: 2024
With Shai-Gilgeous Alexander and his 31 points and Josh Giddey and his triple-double, The Oklahoma City Thunder rumbled the Trail Blazers team on January 11, 2024. Jalen Williams dished out 21 points, Chet Holmgren scored 19, and Giddey tallied 13 points, 10 rebounds, and 12 assists for his ninth career triple-double. Portland's Anfernee Simons made 14 points, and Scoot Henderson scored 13 points with a low FG%.

The OKC squad did not give any lead to the Trail Blazers from the start. Shaedon Sharpe and Billups were called out for technical fouls, and there was no chance of scoring the buckets for Portland due to lesser shooting from the floor.

#6 Syracuse Nationals vs New York Knicks (162-100)

Points Difference: 62 points
Year: 1960
On the December 25, 1960, Christmas Day match, the Syracuse Nationals demolished the New York Knicks squad with their performance, and the Knicks had nothing to retaliate. Except for Swede Halbrook, all of the players from Syracuse raked up double-digit numbers. However, two players, Dave Gambee and Hal Greer, were leading the charge of offense with 24 points each.

But on New York's end, only Willie Naulls, Jim Palmer, Richie Guerin, and Dave Budd were able to tally double-digit scores. The rest of them could not get past 9, and the Nationals roster completely dominated the scoring war.

#5 Golden State Warriors vs Sacramento Kings (153-91)

Points Difference: 62 points
Year: 1991
It was expected to be a decently close showdown, but the Golden State Warriors scorers did not let the lead go loose on November 2, 1991. They secured a 62-point margin victory with the help of Tyrone Hill's 20, Chris Mullin's 32, and Sarunas Marciulionis' 27 points. Eventually, the Sacramento Kings could only accumulate 100 with the help of Anthony Bonner's 16 and Lionel Simmons' 11 points.

It was a tough loss for the Kings as they ranked fifth for the biggest blowout for victory rankings, with the Dubs on the winning side of the basketball game fixture in the NBA.

#4 Los Angeles Lakers vs Golden State Warriors (162-99)

Points Difference: 63 points
Year: 1972

The Los Angeles Lakers were leading from the start during this game with 42 points in the first quarter on March 19, 1972. It was during the second quarter that the Lakers went on a bloodbath and outscored the Golden State Warriors in every way possible. The highlights of the night were Gail Goodrich(30) and Jim McMillan(22).

Surprisingly, Wilt Chamberlain could only score 10 points in this game, while other players scored more. The Lakers roster during that era was on a whole different level.

#3 Indiana Pacers vs Portland Trail Blazers (124-69)

Points Difference: 65 points
Year: 1998
It was the worst blowout in the Portland Trail Blazers history by 65 points on February 27, 1998. Indiana Pacers were in control of the showdown and showed a masterclass of defense to the Portland team. It might be the third biggest blowout but at the time of commencement, it ranked at the second spot.

Also, it was the first time in NBA history that a team had scored double the amount of points as their rival team in the pro-basketball league. Notably, it was the era of Reggie Miller, and he had a bigger hand in all of the volume scoring from the floor.

#2 Cleveland Cavaliers vs Miami Heat (148-80)

Points Difference: 68 points
Year: 1991

The Cleveland Cavaliers never let the Miami Heat make a comeback during the game since they kept on scoring. It was 75 points during the first half and then another 73 points during the second half. Brad Daugherty and Henry James dished out 17 points, while bench players Mark Price and John Battle added 18 points for their team.

Miami Heat were restricted to a mere 80 points during the showdown since it was not the best time since their inaugural season in the pro-basketball league of the NBA.

#1 Memphis Grizzlies vs Oklahoma City Thunder (152-79)

Points Difference: 73 points
Year: 2021

It was the biggest blowout in NBA history that commenced on December 2, 2021. Jaren Jackson Jr. of the Memphis Grizzlies went on a roll, crushing the opponent with his 27 points. Similarly, other players like DeAnthony Melton scored 19 points, and John Konchar put up 17 during the game for the biggest blowout in NBA history.

Notably, the squad was playing without Ja Morant, yet their bench strength scored 93 points against the total of Oklahoma City Thunder during the match. It was the most complete performance from the Grizzlies squad.