After it was announced that their All-Star point guard would likely be out for the remainder of the postseason, the Grizzlies returned to Memphis facing a 3-1 series deficit in the Western Conference Semifinals series with the Warriors.
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They may have been without their best player, but the Grizzlies put forth their best performance of the 2022 NBA Playoffs by far.
After a solid first quarter, Memphis used a monstrous second quarter to take a 27-point lead into the halftime break. Things would get out of hand from there, as the Grizzlies outscored the Warriors 42-17 in the third quarter to take a 119-67 lead into the final frame.
To break the math down on that one, that’s a 52-point advantage for Memphis, which led by as many as 55 (!) points in Game 5.
With the game well in hand, the Grizzlies held on for a 134-95 win, equating to a 39-point margin of victory. Desmond Bane, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Tyus Jones each scored 21 points to help the Grizzlies make up for Morant’s absence.
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It’s not often that you see such a lopsided game in the playoffs, but it has happened before. Here is where Memphis’ win stacks up among the most dominant postseason victories in NBA history.
Largest margins of victory in NBA Playoffs history
The largest margin of victory in NBA Playoffs history is 58, which was done twice. Most recently, the Denver Nuggets earned a 121-63 win over the New Orleans Hornets in Game 4 of the first round of the 2009 NBA Playoffs.
Thanks to a late surge from Golden State in the fourth, Memphis’ win is the 26th-largest in postseason history. It’s the fifth-largest margin of defeat in Warriors’ playoff history.
