MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The Memphis Grizzlies broke the NBA record for margin of victory on Thursday night, beating the Oklahoma City Thunder, 152-79.

The 73-point margin easily topped the previous mark, which was Cleveland’s 68-point win over Miami, 148-80, on Dec. 17, 1991.

Memphis used 12 players and nine reached double figures in scoring, with Jaren Jackson Jr.’s 27 points leading the way for the Grizzlies. Memphis was without its best player, injured guard Ja Morant.

It was 72-36 at halftime and the Grizzlies just kept adding to the lead, eventually pulling ahead by as many as 78.

RAPTORS 97, BUCKS 93: Fred VanVleet scored 29 points, Pascal Siakam had 20 and Toronto took advantage of Giannis Antetokounmpo’s absence to beat visiting Milwaukee, ending the Bucks’ winning streak at eight.

Antetokounmpo was out because of soreness in his right calf, a day after he scored 40 points as Milwaukee beat Charlotte 127-125.

Scottie Barnes scored 13 points as the Raptors won for the first time in four games and snapped a five-game home losing streak, their longest since January 2011.

Jrue Holiday scored 26 points, Khris Middleton added 22 and Bobby Portis Jr. had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Bucks, who lost for the first time since a Nov. 14 defeat at Atlanta.

BUCKS 119, KNICKS 115: DeMar DeRozan scored 34 points, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic each added 27, and Chicago held on for a victory at New York.

Those three were the only Chicago players to score in the fourth quarter, but it was just enough after the Knicks had erased a 21-point deficit to take the lead.

DeRozan scored 18 points in the fourth, including the Bulls’ final six. LaVine gave Chicago the lead by making two free throws with 53 seconds left after the game was tied at 111.

Julius Randle had 30 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, but missed two free throws and had a turnover that led to LaVine’s free throws. The Knicks (11-11) fell to .500 for the first time this season after starting 5-1.

NOTES

LAKERS: LeBron James has been cleared to return to the lineup after missing one game under the NBA’s health and safety protocols.

The league said that James is not positive for COVID-19 despite a series of tests that produced conflicting results earlier this week. Additional testing cleared James to play when the Lakers host the Los Angeles Clippers on Friday night.

James got an initial positive test from a sample collected Monday. The sample was retested twice, producing one positive and one negative result. James underwent additional testing Tuesday, but those tests returned one negative result and one clinically inconclusive result, according to the league.

James subsequently had two negative PCR tests conducted more than 24 hours apart, meeting the criteria necessary to return to play.

James said earlier in the season that he is vaccinated. A clear positive test likely would have kept James away for 10 days or more.

James has missed 12 of the Lakers’ 23 games this season, with 10 because of injuries. He also missed one game while serving the first suspension of his 19-year NBA career for an altercation with Detroit’s Isaiah Stewart.

CAVALIERS: The Boston-based Ruderman Family Foundation honored Kevin Love with its annual Morton E. Ruderman Award in Inclusion for his work both on and off the court to remove the stigma around mental illness.

“Love has repeatedly taken steps to eradicate the mental health stigma by sharing stories of his struggles with depression, anxiety, and other challenges,” the foundation said in a statement. He has also established the Kevin Love Fund, with an ambitious goal of helping more than 1 billion people over a five-year period.

Last year, his fund teamed up with the University of California, Los Angeles, and established the Kevin Love Fund Chair in UCLA’s psychology department to diagnose, prevent, treat and destigmatize anxiety and depression.

Love, 33, won an NBA championship with the Cavaliers in 2016 and was a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. national team at the 2010 FIBA World Championship and the 2012 London Olympics.

He’s repeatedly taken steps to eradicate the mental health stigma by sharing stories of his struggles with depression, anxiety and other challenges. In a 2018 essay for The Players’ Tribune, he revealed that he had been seeing a therapist for several months following a panic attack during a game earlier that year.

The struggle continues: In April, Love apologized for an on-court tantrum during a game against the Toronto Raptors.

“When I first spoke out about my mental health struggles, it transformed my life,” Love said Thursday.

“Over the past few years, athletes around the world have shown us incredible courage by shining a light on the mental health toll that comes with extreme pressure. In doing so, they helped kick-start a cultural shift around mental wellness,” he said.

Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, said Love was chosen for his “instrumental role in destigmatizing mental health and bringing this long-overdue conversation out in the open.”

“He has served as a high-profile role model for countless people facing mental health challenges, who can now use his courage and determination as a guiding light,” Ruderman said.

BUCKS: Milwaukee center Brook Lopez has undergone surgery to address the back injury that has kept him from playing since the opening game of the season.

The Bucks announced that Lopez had back surgery earlier that day in Los Angeles. Team officials didn’t provide a timetable for his eventual return but said “Lopez will continue to be listed as out and updates on his rehabilitation progress will be provided as appropriate.”

Lopez played 28 minutes and had eight points, five rebounds and three blocks in a season-opening victory over the Brooklyn Nets, but the 7-footer hasn’t played since. The 33-year-old center is in his fourth season with the Bucks and 14th season overall.

He averaged 12.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocks last season while helping the Bucks win the NBA title.

Bucks officials said Robert Watkins performed the surgery, with oversight from team doctor William Raasch.

 

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