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Thunder tank their way into record 57-point loss to short-handed Pacers

Taking the 2020-21 Oklahoma City Thunder and removing players like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort and Al Horford sounds more like a psychology experiment than a real NBA team, but it was definitely real on Saturday.

The result: the largest home loss in the history of the NBA.

Despite being short-handed themselves, the Indiana Pacers blew out the Thunder on Saturday to the tune of 152-95, a 57-point loss. It was the largest loss of the season, surpassing a 53-point loss for the Golden State Warriors.

How one-sided was this game? Pacers big man Domantas Sabonis had a triple-double by the end of the first half, a feat not seen in the last 25 years, and finished with 26 points, 19 rebounds and 14 assists. That was enough to overcome the absences of Malcolm Brogdon, Myles Turner, T.J. Warren and more.

Let's just do a quick rundown of all the ways this game, in which the Pacers led by as much as 67, made ugly history:

As a team, the Thunder shot 34.2 percent from the field. Moses Brown, who was playing in the G League in March, led the team with 16 points.

As shocking as all of these numbers are, it's not too much of a surprise to see them from the 21-43 Thunder. The team has been openly rebuilding this season, and was without arguably its three most established players. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander remains out with right foot plantar fasciitis, Lu Dort was ruled out Saturday to a supposed hip issue and Al Horford has been in the tanking phantom zone since March.

In the end, it's only one loss for the Thunder, and that will be more than fine to the team's decision-makers this year.

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