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Biggest Blowout in NBA Finals History: A Full Breakdown

When most sports fans picture the NBA Finals, they picture iconic moments in close games. Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan's iconic shot in Game 6 in 1998. Los Angeles Lakers guard Magic Johnson's so-called "junior, junior skyhook." Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James's block in 2016.

These memories obscure the fact that there has been a lot of slop on basketball's biggest stage. Did you know, for example, that there have only been five NBA Finals Game 7s in the last 30 years?

This article is a celebration of the Finals's unsightlier moments. Here are a few questions about the NBA's championship series beatdowns, answered.

On June 7, 1998, the Bulls smashed the Utah Jazz 96–54 in Game 3 of the NBA Finals to take a 2–1 series lead.

Pretty much out of nowhere! Chicago and the Jazz had played in the 1997 Finals and the series was competitive, with no game decided by more than 12 points. Utah won Game 1 in '98 88–85 in overtime, and the Bulls won Game 2 by five.

Chicago led just 17–14 after the first quarter in Game 3 but pushed its lead to 49-31 at the half. The Jazz's final total of 54 points represented, at the time, the lowest point total of the shot-clock era in any game—regular season or postseason.

The Bulls' 42-point margin of victory is an NBA Finals record. Predictably, Jordan led both teams with 24 points.

The second-most lopsided game will be more familiar to younger fans: the Boston Celtics' 131–92 win over the Lakers in Game 6 of the 2008 Finals. That game gave the Celtics their most recent title, and remains basketball's most lopsided championship clincher.

Rounding out the top five biggest Finals margins of victory: Game 3 in 2013 (San Antonio Spurs 113, Miami Heat 77), Game 6 in 1978 (Washington Bullets 117, Seattle SuperSonics 82), Game 1 in 1985 (Boston 148, Los Angeles 114; the so-called Memorial Day Massacre), and Game 1 in 1961 (Celtics 129, St. Louis Hawks 95).

7 May 24 Jimm Sallivan

Jazz Have Jaw-Dropping Asking Price for Potential Lauri Markkanen Trade, per Report

The fact that forward Lauri Markkanen has raised his stock as a player in two seasons with the Utah Jazz is beyond debate.

Since coming over to the Jazz in the Cleveland Cavaliers' trade for guard Donovan Mitchell, Markkanen has raised his career scoring average by nearly three full points per game. In 2023, the Vantaa, Finland native made an All-Star team and was voted the league's Most Improved Player.

Precisely how much Markkanen has improved in the eyes of the league appears set to be tested this summer.

According to Tony Jones of The Athletic, Utah would want a king's ransom for its star in a hypothetical trade.

“Markkanen’s value to the Jazz is so great that it’s going to take an offer that is probably not going to come to pry him from the Jazz," Jones wrote Friday. "Something like four or five first-round picks, and a star-level talent coming over.”

“Markkanen’s value to the Jazz is so great that it’s going to take an offer that is probably not going to come to pry him from the Jazz. Something like four or five first-round picks, and a star-level talent coming over.”
- @Tjonesonthenba on Utah’s potential asking price for… pic.twitter.com/o8Gq7Zc508
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 6, 2024

Essentially, per Jones, the Jazz are looking for an offer similar to what they commanded for Mitchell—three players, three first-round picks, and two pick swaps. It's cleat that team executive Danny Ainge is looking to continue to accumulate capital to accelerate the franchise's rebuild.

Markkanen will turn 27 on May 22—whether he is deemed young enough (and good enough) to tempt teams to acquire him at a sky-high asking price remains to be seen.