Which team has the largest margin of victory in an NBA Finals game? Michael Jordan's Bulls top all-time list

Scott Rafferty

Which team has the largest margin of victory in an NBA Finals game? Michael Jordan's Bulls top all-time list image

The Finals is a matchup between two of the NBA's best teams, but that doesn't mean that every game is competitive. 

In fact, the Finals has seen a fair number of blowouts in the league's storied 75-year history.

The record for the largest margin of victory in a Finals game was set 24 years ago by Michael Jordan's Bulls, but a couple of teams have come close to breaking it in the two decades since.

With that in mind, here are the most lopsided games ever played in 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 largest margin of victory in a Finals game. The Jazz finished with just 54 points on 30.0 percent shooting from the field, 11.1 percent from 3-point range and 78.6 percent from the free-throw line.

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It's one of 17 times that a game has been decided by 30 or more points in Finals history. The most recent came 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 same series.

The Lakers have been on the receiving end of six 30-point blowouts in the Finals.

Largest margin of victory in an NBA Finals game (Stathead)
Rank Team Opponent Differential Year
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 largest margin of victory in a playoff game is 58 points. In the regular season? 73 points, set during the 2021-22 season by the Grizzlies. 

Scott Rafferty

Scott Rafferty Photo

 

Scott Rafferty is an experienced NBA journalist who first started writing for The Sporting News in 2017. There are few things he appreciates more than a Nikola Jokic no-look pass, Klay Thompson heat check or Giannis Antetokounmpo eurostep. He's a member of the NBA Global team.