The Spurs have now won three straight games by 25+ points, with a cumulative point differential during that span of +82. Since the start of 2012-2013, there are just 65 other instances in which a team has achieved a three-game point differential that high or higher at any point in the regular season. Granted, San Antonio’s competition during this period hasn’t exactly been staunch (to put it mildly), but it’s also true that the Spurs could have won each game by MUCH more had they not coasted toward the finish line.
Although blowouts like this can be a bit boring to watch, they tend to produce highly variable box scores. This is because a blowout can be generated in many ways, ranging from being marginally better at lots of things to dominating in one key area. This variability also means that games of this kind often yield rare outcomes, as was the case here:
What are Team Graded Box Scores?
Very briefly, these box scores grade winner-loser differentials for basic box score statistics, with the grade being based on the winning team’s differential relative to other NBA winners during a defined reference period. Think of it like a report card for understanding how a given winner performed relative to other winners. The reference period used runs from the start of the 2012-2013 season to the latest date of play, including only games in the same season category (i.e., regular season and playoff games are not compared to each other).
Data Source: The underlying data used to create these box scores was collected from Basketball Reference. In all cases, the data are collected the morning after the game is played. Although rare, postgame statistical revisions after data collection do occur and may affect the results after the fact.