Most 1-Sided NBA Finals Beatdowns in History After Game 3

The San Antonio Spurs aren't as old as they're made out to be. And they're so much more than a three-man wrecking crew, even if all three of those stars are Hall of Fame bound.

With control of the series on the line in Tuesday night's Game 3, the Spurs' brightest three stars were largely missing in action. Tim Duncan led the Big Three with 12 points, while Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili combined for just 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting from the field.

Yet, thanks to a three-point shooting barrage that reached historic levels, the Spurs dealt the Miami Heat their most lopsided postseason loss, 113-77, in franchise history:

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The 36-point loss is the largest postseason loss in @miamiheat franchise history. @eliassports

— NBA History (@NBAHistory) June 12, 2013"

The awful taste left in Miami's mouth was worse than anything it had experienced since LeBron James and Chris Bosh arrived in South Beach in the summer of 2010. Regular season or playoff time, this was the most lopsided margin of defeat the Heat had suffered in the Big Three era, via ESPN.com's Alok Pattani.

San Antonio's 36-point rout wasn't the worst beating ever handed down in the NBA Finals, but it was dominant enough to grab a spot on this list. Read on to see where it ranks among the league's largest margins of victory in championship series history.

Game 1, 1961 NBA Finals

In year three of their eight-year title run, the Boston Celtics had learned not to play around in an NBA championship series.

So when Bill Russell and Co. squared off with Bob Pettit's St. Louis Hawks in the 1961 NBA Finals, the Celtics didn't waste any time in making their presence felt. 

Playing in front of their home fans, the Celtics erupted for 129 points in the series opener. High-scoring was far from a phenomenon in the series (both teams averaged more than 110 points per game), so St. Louis' 95 points were far more deflating than the number might normally suggest.

Of course, the Hawks may have had an excuse for managing "only" 95 points that night. They had just closed out a tough seven-game series with the Los Angeles Lakers the night before in St. Louis.

Boston closed out St. Louis in just five games, winning only one by less than double digits. Hall of Famer Bill Sharman retired after the series.

Game 6, 1978 NBA Finals

The Washington Bullets and Seattle Supersonics spent the first five games of the 1978 NBA Finals trading a series of body blows, each team weathering a punch one night then delivering its own the next.

Neither team had won consecutive games in the series, so Seattle enjoyed a 3-2 series lead thanks to its first strike with a 106-102 win in Game 1. Four of the first five games were decided by a total of 13 points, with Washington's 106-98 win in Game 2 being the only margin of victory above four points.

Game 6 was a complete reversal of the close games that the series had produced to that point. Washington raced out to a wide lead after two quarters, pouring in 70 points in the first 24 minutes. The Bullets eased up a little in the second half but still cruised to an incredibly comfortable 117-82 victory.

Current Los Angeles Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak poured in 19 points, while rookie Greg Ballard chipped in with 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Washington's 35-point win was an NBA Finals record for the most lopsided win and would not be broken for 20 years. The Bullets would go on to capture their first (and only) NBA championship with a 105-99 win in Game 7.

Game 3, 2013 NBA Finals

Just two days after dropping a 19-point loss in Miami, San Antonio fired back with a resounding 113-77 rout of the defending champs.

The Spurs held just a six-point lead at halftime but opened the third quarter on a 9-2 run. The Heat would never cut that margin to less than 10 points the rest of the way.

Danny Green led all scorers with 27 points, while reserve sniper Gary Neal chipped in with 24. The pair's 51 combined points were eight more than Miami got out of its entire starting lineup.

San Antonio held decisive advantages across nearly the entire box score. The Spurs outshot the Heat 48.9 to 40.8 percent from the field, outrebounded them by a 52-36 count and racked up eight more assists (29 to 21) while committing four fewer turnovers (12 to 16).

Whether or not this was anything more than a one-game anomaly has yet to be determined.

Game 6, 2008 NBA Finals

The only series-clincher to crack this list, the Boston Celtics' championship-securing victory over the Los Angeles Lakers was a dramatic change from what fans had expected to see.

The hype surrounding the series had reached a fever pitch. The league's two most storied franchises renewed their rivalry on its biggest stage and delivered five games of enthralling action.

The Celtics protected their home floor, holding serve for the first two games of the series. The Lakers finally got on the board with an 87-81 win in Game 3, suffered a 97-91 setback in Game 4, then bounced back with a 103-98 win in Game 5.

However, the widely anticipated battle in Game 6 was practically over before it ever got started. Boston held a five-point advantage after the first quarter, built that lead to 12 by halftime, then broke the game wide open with a commanding 32-15 third-quarter beatdown.

Five different Celtics scored in double figures, led by 26 points each from Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett for a final score of 131-92. 

Game 3, 1998 NBA Finals

Before the 1998 NBA Finals produced perhaps the signature moment in Michael Jordan's legendary career, it first yielded the biggest blowout victory ever witnessed on basketball's championship stage.

In a rematch of the 1997 Finals, Jordan's Chicago Bulls were once again paired up with the Utah Jazz. But unlike their previous meeting, the Jazz drew first blood with an 88-85 overtime victory in Game 1. The Bulls evened up the series two nights later with a 93-88 win in Game 2.

Once the series shifted to Chicago for Game 3, though, it quickly made its way into the history books. After both teams struggled through a 17-14 first quarter that gave the Bulls an early lead, Chicago broke through with 32 points in the second quarter while holding Utah to just 17.

And this was only the beginning for the Jazz. Utah limped to a 14-point quarter in the third, then managed a mere nine points in the fourth to equal a lowly 54 for the game. At the time, Utah's score registered as the lowest in any game of the shot-clock era and still stands as the worst scoring performance in playoff history.

Even that wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact that Chicago cruised to 96 points that night, giving the Bulls the biggest margin of victory (42 points) ever recorded in a Finals game. The Bulls outshot the Jazz by nearly 20 percent from the field (48.7 to 30.0), while Utah shooters misfired on all but one of their 11 three-point attempts.

Karl Malone (22 points) was the only Jazz player to score more than eight points. Michael Jordan's 24 points led the four Chicago players who poured in double figures.