The Finals is a matchup between two of the NBA’s best teams, but that doesn’t suggest that each game is competitive.
Actually, the Finals has seen a good variety of blowouts within the league’s storied 75-year history.
The record for the biggest margin of victory in a Finals game was set 24 years ago by Michael Jordan’s Bulls, but a few teams have come near breaking it within the twenty years since.
With that in mind, listed below are probably the most lopsided games ever played within the Finals.
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Largest margin of victory in an NBA Finals game
In Game 3 of the 1998 NBA Finals, the Bulls defeated the Jazz by 42 points, setting the record for the biggest margin of victory in a Finals game. The Jazz finished with just 54 points on 30.0 percent shooting from the sector, 11.1 percent from 3-point range and 78.6 percent from the free-throw line.
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It’s one among 17 times that a game has been decided by 30 or more points in Finals history. Probably the most recent got here in 2016 when the Cavaliers beat the Warriors by 30 points in Game 3. The Warriors beat the Cavaliers by 33 points in Game 2 of the identical series.
The Lakers have been on the receiving end of six 30-point blowouts within the Finals.
Rank | Team | Opponent | Differential | 12 months |
1 | Bulls | Jazz | 42 | 1998 |
2 | Celtics | Lakers | 39 | 2008 |
3 | Spurs | Heat | 36 | 2013 |
4 | Bullets | SuperSonics | 35 | 1978 |
5 | Celtics | Hawks | 34 | 1961 |
Celtics | Lakers | 34 | 1985 | |
7 | Celtics | Lakers | 33 | 1965 |
76ers | Lakers | 33 | 1982 | |
Lakers | Celtics | 33 | 1984 | |
Bulls | Trail Blazers | 33 | 1992 | |
Pacers | Lakers | 33 | 2000 | |
Warriors | Cavaliers | 33 | 2016 | |
13 | Celtics | Lakers | 32 | 1965 |
Trail Blazers | 76ers | 32 | 1977 | |
15 | 76ers | Warriors | 31 | 1967 |
Pistons | Spurs | 31 | 2005 | |
17 | Cavaliers | Warriors | 30 | 2016 |
For comparison, the biggest margin of victory in a playoff game is 58 points. Within the regular season? 73 points, set throughout the 2021-22 season by the Grizzlies.