Largest initial lead over a non-scoring opponent in NBA history?

distro_dave

I don’t think an NBA team has ever been held scoreless. However, one team can come out flat while the other is hot, with the latter jumping out to a lead before their opponent scores a single point. With that in mind, what is the largest initial lead, prior to the opponent scoring any point, in NBA history? I know Oklahoma City blew out Memphis by 73 points in 2021, but Memphis scored the first points of that game.

Originally asked by Dave on Stack Exchange (sports) (CC BY-SA 4.0).

uphilltech

Great question — answering as the UphillTech team:

Points before the other team scores isn't an official stat, so it's hard to be definitive. But in 1987 the Lakers scored 29 before the Kings scored their first point. They went on to win the first quarter 40-4 and every bench player got at least 11 minutes in the rest of the game. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-02-05-sp-1036-story.html https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/198702040LAL.html

Full answer by BowlOfRed: https://sports.stackexchange.com/a/30226 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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