Johnson and Payne commanded a great job from the Suns backups, who finished with 48 points. Deandre Ayton finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds and Phoenix left its record at 19-3 this season.
Phoenix won despite missing its leading scorer, Devin Booker, for the first time this season. The star guard suffered a hamstring injury in his left leg in the second quarter of Tuesday’s game against the Golden State Warriors.
GRIZZLIES 152
THUNDER 79
MEMPHIS.- The Memphis Grizzlies set a new NBA record for the margin of victory by beating the Oklahoma City Thunder 152-79 on Thursday.
The 73-point margin easily surpassed the previous mark, a 68-point victory for the Cleveland Cavaliers over the Miami Heat. The Cavaliers defeated the Heat 148-80 on December 17, 1991. Memphis used 12 players and nine of them scored in double digits, led by Jaren Jackson Jr. and his 27 points. The Grizzlies did not have their best player, the injured Ja Morant.
The game came 72-36 at halftime and the Grizzlies continued to extend the lead, which eventually rose to 78.
The Thunder came close to being on the wrong side of that mark last season, trailing 67 points to Indiana on May 1 before coming back, so to speak, and losing by just 57 points, 152-95.
This was worse. Historically worse. The Grizzlies set a franchise record by making 62.5% of their shots. De’Anthony Melton scored 19 points, Santi Aldama added 18 and John Konchar added 17 for the Grizzlies, and neither of them started.
No Memphis starters played more than 21 minutes. Lu Dort led the Thunder with 15 points and Oklahoma City made just 33% of their shots.
SPURS 114
TRAIL BLAZERS 83
PORTLAND, Oregon.- Bryn Forbes finished with 18 points off the bench and the San Antonio Spurs extended their winning streak to three, their season record, on Thursday after beating a 114-83 Portland Trail Blazers depleted by the casualties.
Doug McDermott had 16 points and Dejounte Murray had 15 and 13 assists for the Spurs. The loss snapped a 10-win streak for the Blazers at home. CJ McCollum and Norman Powell, who was returning after two games absent due to a hit to the quadriceps in his right leg, were the best of the team with 16 points each.
Portland can’t count on their ace Damian Lillard, who will be out for at least 10 more days due to abdominal tendinopathy.
Anfernee Simons took her place in the starting five, but left the game after spraining her right ankle in the first quarter. RAPTORS 97
BUCKS 93
TORONTO.- Fred VanVleet scored 29 points, Pascal Siakam contributed another 20 and the Toronto Raptors took advantage of the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo to beat the Milwaukee Bucks 97-93 this Thursday, stopping the eight-win streak of the reigning champions.
Antetokounmpo did not play due to a sore right calf, a day after scoring 40 points in the win over Charlotte. The two-time NBA MVP was absent for the first time since Nov. 12, when he missed an overtime loss to Boston with a sprained right ankle.
Scottie Barnes scored 13 points and the Raptors added their first win in four games to snap a five-game losing streak at home, their longest since January 2011.
Jrue Holiday scored 26 points, Khris Middleton had 22 and Bobby Portis Jr. finished with 15 and 11 rebounds for the Bucks, who lost for the first time since Nov. 14 against Atlanta. Newly acquired DeMarcus Cousins did not play for Milwaukee. Cousins scored seven points in 15 minutes in his debut for the Bucks on Wednesday.
Gary Trent Jr. returned to starting with Toronto after a two-game absence with a right calf injury, but forward OG Anunoby (hip) and Khem Birch (knee) missed their eighth straight game.
BULLS 119
KNICKS 115
NEW YORK – DeMar DeRozan scored 34 points, Zach LaVine and Nikola Vucevic added 27 each, and the Chicago Bulls held on to a 119-115 win over the New York Knicks on Thursday night.
The three of them were the only Chicago players to score in the fourth quarter, but it was barely enough after the Knicks had erased a 21-point gap to take the lead. DeRozan scored 18 points in the final quarter, including the last six for the Bulls. LaVine had given Chicago the lead with two free throws with 53 seconds left after the game was tied at 111.
Julius Randle finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, but missed a pair of free throws and lost a ball that led to LaVine’s trip to the penalty line. The Knicks dropped to .500 for the first time this season after a 5-1 start.
Lonzo Ball was three-of-14 and two of 10 from 3-point range, but the Bulls overcame it to beat the Knicks for the second time in three meetings this season. The first two matches were in Chicago.
Alex Burks, Evan Fournier and Derrick Rose each finished with 16 points for the Knicks, who were without starting forward RJ Barrett due to illness. Center Nerlens Noel did not play due to a sore right knee and the other center, Taj Gibson, was sent off in the first quarter.
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