What are the largest NBA playoff wins? Where Thunder’s 51-point margin ranks originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
The Oklahoma City Thunder brought the boom.
Boasting a league-best 68-14 regular-season record, top-seeded Oklahoma opened its NBA playoff run with a whopping 131-80 Game 1 win over the No. 8 Memphis Grizzlies.
Six Thunder players eclipsed double-digit points, with Aaron Wiggins recording 21 off the bench for welcome output. MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was only the team’s fourth-leading scorer on the day with 15 points.
It marked the largest Game 1 margin in NBA history, but how did it fare compared to playoff history? Let’s take a look:
What is the largest NBA playoff win?
Two games hold a tie for the largest NBA playoff win. Most recently in the 2009 playoffs, the Denver Nuggets crushed the New Orleans Hornets 121-63 for a 58-point win, as did the Minneapolis Lakers in their 1956 133-75 result over the St. Louis Hawks.
Denver’s win came in the first round, while Minneapolis’ was in the semifinals, though the formats differed.
What are the largest NBA playoff wins in NBA history?
Oklahoma City’s 51-point margin over Memphis is top-five worthy. Here’s a list of the 50-plus-point margins in NBA playoff history:
- 58 points: Minneapolis Lakers 133, St. Louis Hawks 75 (1956 Western Division semifinals)
- 58 points: Denver Nuggets 121, New Orleans Hornets 63 (2009 Western Conference first round)
- 56 points: Los Angeles Lakers 126, Golden State Warriors 70 (1973 Western Conference Finals)
- 54 points: Chicago Bulls 120, Milwaukee Bucks 66 (2015 Eastern Conference first round)
- 51 points: Oklahoma City Thunder 131, Memphis Grizzlies 80 (2025 Western Conference first round)
- 50 points: Milwaukee Bucks 136, San Francisco Warriors 86 (1971 Western Conference semifinals)
