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In the ongoing 2021 NBA playoffs, there have been several dominant team performances.
The Milwaukee Bucks swept the Miami Heat in the first round, while the Brooklyn Nets' Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden are blowing away the Boston Celtics with their offensive firepower.
Over the years, several dominant teams have had some incredible NBA postseason outings. The 2000-01 LA Lakers or the 2017 Golden State Warriors are two such teams that come to mind.
There are times in the NBA playoffs when teams collapse by significant margins, getting blown away. The Charlotte Hornets routed the Memphis Grizzlies by 61 points in the 2018 regular season. This campaign, the Dallas Mavericks blew away the LA Clippers by 50 points at half-time.
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Although the NBA playoffs do not witness too many blowouts, there have been a few occasions when fans scratched their heads at the margin of victories. On that note, let's take a look at the ten most memorable blowouts in NBA playoff history.
#10 (T-6) Cleveland Cavaliers 130-86 Boston Celtics
Margin of victory: 44 points (on the road)
The LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers have several records to their name: the first team in NBA Finals history to comeback from a 1-3 deficit against a 73-win Warriors team, most three-pointers by a team in NBA playoffs history and several others.
Another record to their name is the sixth-highest margin of victory in NBA playoffs history when they routed the Boston Celtics in Game 2 of the 2017 NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
LeBron James scored a game-high 30 points, Kyrie Irving dropped 23, and Kevin Love scored 21. The Cavaliers scored 56% from the field and sunk 19 threes on 48% shooting from beyond the arc.
The Boston Celtics couldn't buy a bucket that night. They averaged 37% from the field and 29% from the three-point range. The Cavaliers went on to win the NBA playoffs series 4-1.
#9 (T-6) Seattle Supersonics 122-78 Phoenix Suns
Margin of victory: 44 points (at home)
The 2nd-seeded Seattle Supersonics took on the 7th-seeded Phoenix Suns in the first round of the 1997 NBA playoffs.
In Game 2 of the series, the Supersonics recorded one of the biggest blowouts in NBA playoff history. They started the game all guns blazing, taking a 35-18 lead in the first quarter and not relinquishing their advantage. Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp scored 23 points apiece for Seattle, while Hersey Hawkins added another 19. The Supersonics shot nearly 50% from the field.
Meanwhile, the Suns' main player, Jason Kidd, scored just two points, going 0-7 from the field and 0-6 from the three-point range, while they averaged just 26% as a team.
#8 (T-6) LA Lakers 153-109 Denver Nuggets
Margin of victory: 44 points (at home)
In the Western Conference Finals in the 1985 NBA playoffs, the LA Lakers ran the Denver Nuggets out of the building in Game 5.
After winning both games in Denver, the Magic Johnson-led LA Lakers had a 3-1 lead. They looked to put the series to bed before taking on their rivals, the Boston Celtics in the NBA Finals.
Magic Johnson dropped 17 points and 19 assists on the night to lead the way for his team. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar recorded 15 points, Byron Scott had 21, James Worthy dropped a game-high 25, while three bench players scored in double-digits.
The LA Lakers scored 57% from the field and routed the Nuggets, who could only average 38% from the floor.
#7 (T-6) St. Louis Hawks 145-101 Detroit Pistons
Margin of victory: 44 points (on the road)
In Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals in the 1958 NBA playoffs, the St. Louis Hawks became the first team in playoff history to win by 44 points.
As many as seven players scored in double-digits as the Hawks shot 56% from the field as a team. Cliff Hagan scored a game-high 28 points, while Bob Pettit contributed 23.
Meanwhile, the Pistons scored just 30% from the field, and the team's highest scorer was limited to just 16 points.
#6 (T-5) Orlando Magic 124-77 Boston Celtics
Margin of victory: 47 points (at home)
Everyone remembers Shaquille O'Neal's prime with the LA Lakers due to the MVPs, championships and several other accolades he won. However, his stint with the Orlando Magic was also amazing.
He won the scoring title in 1995 by averaging 29.3 points per game and led his team to the NBA Finals. In Game 1 of the first round of the 1995 NBA playoffs, the Orlando Magic started their postseason by blowing the Boston Celtics.
O'Neal scored a game-high 23 points in 27 minutes, while Nick Anderson dropped 20. As many as eight players scored in double figures for the Magic. Meanwhile, the Boston Celtics were limited to just 77 points and averaged only 35% from the field. The Magic went on to win the series 3-1 in the 'best-of-five series.
#5 (T-5) LA Lakers 135-88 San Antonio Spurs
Margin of victory: 47 points (at home)
This game saw another monstrous performance from the Magic Johnson-led LA Lakers. They had won against the Denver Nuggets by 44 points in the 1985 NBA playoffs. But a year later, in the playoffs, another brilliantly executed game by coach Pat Riley resulted in a 47-point blowout win over the San Antonio Spurs.
In Game 1 of the series, the Lakers shot 66% from the field to rout the Spurs. Magic Johnson dropped 13 points and 18 assists, while Byron Scott produced a game-high 24 points. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar scored 16 points, and James Worthy contributed 18.
In response, the Spurs could manage only 88 points. They didn't shoot poorly from the field, averaging 45% as a team, with six players scoring in double-figures. However, that was far from enough to beat the rampaging LA Lakers on the night.
#4 Milwaukee Bucks 136-86 San Francisco Warriors
Margin of victory: 50 points (at home)
This was another NBA playoff blowout that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was a part of. The Milwaukee Bucks clobbered the San Francisco Warriors by 50 points in the 1971 NBA playoffs.
In Game 5 of the Western Conference Semi-Finals, the Bucks scored 56% as a team to put the series to bed and advance to the conference Finals. Seven players scored in double figures, with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar dropping 23 points on 9-15 shooting. Jon McGlocklin dropped a game-high 28 points, while Oscar Robertson contributed 12.
In contrast, the San Francisco Warriors' highest scorer contributed only 13 points on the night, while the team scored just 36% from the field.
#3 Chicago Bulls 120-66 Milwaukee Bucks
Margin of victory: 54 points (on the road)
In the first round of the 2015 NBA playoffs, the Chicago Bulls blew the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 6 to seal the series.
Jimmy Butler scored 16 points and was a ridiculous +46 for the game, while Derrick Rose contributed 15, Pau Gasol 19 and Mike Dunleavy 20. The Bulls averaged 51% from the field, including 50% from the three-point range, with every player being positive in the +/- category.
Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Bucks did not have a single player who scored in double digits. The team-high was eight points by Zaza Pachulia, with the entire team averaging 32% from the field, including 21% from beyond the arc. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton combined for 11 points in that game.
#2 LA Lakers 126-70 Golden State Warriors
Margin of victory: 56 points (on the road)
The star-studded LA Lakers with Wilt Chamberlain, Jerry West and Gail Goodrich swamped their state rivals, the Golden State Warriors. In Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals in the 1973 NBA playoffs, the LA Lakers recorded the second-highest margin of victory in an NBA playoff game, with a 56-point margin of victory.
Jerry West tallied 16 points and 11 assists; Wilt Chamberlain contributed 12 points and 25 rebounds, while Gail Goodrich scored 14. Jim McMillian led the way with a game-high 28 points on 12-21 shooting from the field. Meanwhile, only one player on the Golden State Warriors roster scored in double figures, with Rick Barry scoring ten points.
#1 (T-1) Minneapolis Lakers 133-75 St. Louis Hawks
Margin of victory: 58 points (at home)
Back when the LA Lakers were based out of Minneapolis, they had one of the craziest NBA playoff games of all time. In the 1956 NBA playoffs, the Lakers hosted the St. Louis Hawks in Game 2 of the Divisional Semifinals, where they destroyed the latter by 58 points, the joint-biggest margin of victory in NBA playoff history.
On that night, every single player on the Lakers roster scored in double-digits. Slater Martin dropped a game-high 19 points, while Dick Schnittker had 18. Meanwhile, the highest scorer on the Hawks was Bob Pettit with 14 points, while the rest of the team struggled to buy a bucket, averaging just 24% from the field. However, the Minneapolis Lakers ended up losing the series.
#1 (T-1) Denver Nuggets 121-63 New Orleans Hornets
Margin of victory: 58 points (on the road)
The Carmelo Anthony-led Denver Nuggets were one of the most impressive teams in the Western Conference in the late 2000s.
In Game 4 of the first round of the 2009 NBA playoffs, the Nuggets annihilated the New Orleans Hornets by a whopping 58 points. Carmelo Anthony dropped a game-high 26 points, while Chauncey Billups had 17. Seven players scored in double-digits, and the team shot 56% from the field, including 50% from the three-point range.
A young Chris Paul scored four points in 36 minutes, while David West tallied a team-high 14 points. Only three players had double-digit scores in the game; the Hornets shot 31% from the field and 13% from the three-point range.
Also Read: 5 teams with the best NBA playoffs record of all time.
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