Oklahoma City's playoff run got off to a record-setting start.
The Thunder beat the Memphis Grizzlies 131-80 in Game 1 of their Western Conference playoff series on Sunday, the fifth-biggest victory margin in NBA postseason history and the largest in a Game 1.
“We were amped up,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Give the guys a lot of credit for the week of practice that we had. It's a sneaky tough week because it's a lot of days without games and it gets you out of rhythm of games.”
The 51-point margin capped a stat-filled Sunday in OKC. Some highlights:
For a while, it seemed like the Thunder had a chance at the biggest playoff win ever.
There have been two 58-point playoff margins: Denver beating New Orleans 121-63 on April 27, 2009, and the Minneapolis Lakers beating the St. Louis Hawks 133-75 on March 19, 1956.
The Los Angeles Lakers beat Golden State by 56 (126-70) on April 21, 1973 and the Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks by 54 (120-66) on April 30, 2015.
The Thunder led by as many as 56 points, the biggest lead in a playoff game since Denver led New Orleans by 58 points in that 2009 game.
OKC held leads of 127-71 and 129-73. The Grizzlies scored seven of the game's final nine points, which kept Memphis from enduring the biggest playoff loss ever.
The week off for the Thunder didn't slow down the NBA's best team this season — one that won 68 games and set a league record for point differential at 12.9 per game.
The Thunder opened a 35-point lead in the first half. That was the biggest first-half lead of any playoff Game 1 in the league's digital play-by-play era that goes back to 1996-97.
Oklahoma City had 35-point leads twice — 61-26 and 63-28. The Thunder settled for a 68-36 lead at halftime, the biggest halftime lead of any playoff game in franchise history, as well as the biggest halftime deficit ever for the Grizzlies in a playoff game.
Since 1997, there have been only two NBA playoff games where one team led by more than 35 points.
Both were done by the Cleveland Cavaliers when LeBron James played there.
The Cavs led at Boston by 41 points twice (70-29 and 72-31) in the first half of Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals on May 19, 2017. And the Cavs led Atlanta by 38 points (74-36) in Game 2 of the East semifinals on May 4, 2016.
Go figure: The Thunder won by 51 points on a day where their MVP favorite, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, was “held” to only 15 points.
“I was impressed with how the guys came out and played,” Daigneault said.
This wasn't the most one-sided game in Thunder-Grizzlies history. Not even close.
Memphis beat Oklahoma City 152-79 on Dec. 2, 2021 — the 73-point margin there being the biggest in NBA history.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein, left, and forward Jalen Williams (8) react after a dunk by Williams during the first half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzles, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
Oklahoma City Thunder forward Jalen Williams (8) reacts after a dunk during the first half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzlies, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, left, signs autographs for fans before Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series against the Memphis Grizzles, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) looks to shoot between Memphis Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane (22) and center Zach Edey (14) during the first half in Game 1 of an NBA first-round playoff series, Sunday, April 20, 2025, in Oklahoma City. (AP Photo/Nate Billings)
JOLIET, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois landlord who killed a 6-year-old Muslim boy and severely injured the boy's mother in a brutal hate-crime attack days after the war in Gaza began was sentenced Friday to 53 years in prison.
Joseph Czuba, 73, was found guilty in February of murder, attempted murder and hate-crime charges in the death of Wadee Alfayoumi and the wounding of his mother, Hanan Shaheen.
Judge Amy Bertani-Tomczak sentenced Czuba to 30 years in the boy's death and another 20 years consecutively for the attack on Shaheen. The judge also sentenced him to three years imprisonment for hate crimes. The length of the sentence makes it all but certain he will die behind bars.
“No sentence can restore what was taken, but today’s outcome delivers a necessary measure of justice,” said Ahmed Rehab, Executive Director of CAIR-Chicago. “Wadee was an innocent child. He was targeted because of who he was—Muslim, Palestinian, and loved."
Czuba did not speak during the sentencing. Czuba's attorney, Lenard, declined comment. Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow’s office issued a statement calling Czuba a “morally reprehensible killer" and the impact of his actions “truly unfathomable.”
The boy's great-uncle, Mahmoud Yousef, was the only family member who spoke during the hearing. He said that no matter the sentence length it wouldn't be enough. The boy's parents had plans for him and Czuba robbed them of that, he said.
Yousef asked Czuba to explain why he attacked the boy and his mother, asking him what news he heard that provoked him, but Czuba did not respond, the Chicago Tribune reported.
Czuba targeted them in October 2023 because of their Islamic faith and as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas, prosecutors said during the trial.
Evidence at trial included harrowing testimony from Shaheen and her frantic 911 call, along with bloody crime scene photos and police video. Jurors deliberated less than 90 minutes before handing in a verdict.
The family had been renting rooms in Czuba’s home in Plainfield, about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from Chicago when the attack happened.
Central to prosecutors' case was harrowing testimony from the boy’s mother, who said Czuba attacked her before moving on to her son, insisting they had to leave because they were Muslim. Prosecutors also played the 911 call and showed police footage. Czuba's wife, Mary, whom he has since divorced, also testified for the prosecution, saying he had become agitated about the Israel-Hamas war, which had erupted days earlier.
Police said Czuba pulled a knife from a holder on a belt and stabbed the boy 26 times, leaving the knife in the child's body. Some of the bloody crime scene photos were so explicit that the judge agreed to turn television screens showing them away from the audience, which included Wadee's relatives.
“He could not escape,” Michael Fitzgerald, a Will County assistant state’s attorney, told jurors at trial. “If it wasn’t enough that this defendant killed that little boy, he left the knife in the little boy’s body.”
The jury deliberated for 90 minutes before returning a verdict.
The attack renewed fears of anti-Muslim discrimination and hit particularly hard in Plainfield and surrounding suburbs, which have a large and established Palestinian community. Wadee's funeral drew large crowds and Plainfield officials have dedicated a park playground in his honor.
Shaheen had more than a dozen stab wounds and it took her weeks to recover.
She said there were no prior issues in the two years she rented from the Czubas, even sharing a kitchen and a living room. Then after the start of the war, Czuba told her that they had to move out because Muslims were not welcome. He later confronted Shaheen and attacked her, holding her down, stabbing her and trying to break her teeth.
“He told me ‘You, as a Muslim, must die,’” said Shaheen, who testified at trial in English and Arabic though a translator.
Police testified that officers found Czuba outside the house, sitting on the ground with blood on his body and hands.
Separately, lawsuits have been filed over the boy’s death, including by his father, Odai Alfayoumi, who is divorced from Shaheen and was not living with them. The U.S. Department of Justice also launched a federal hate crimes investigation.
Yousef told reporters after the hearing that Czuba was a grandfather figure to Wadee and the family doesn’t understand what “fake news” Czuba may have heard about the war in Gaza that caused him to attack the boy and his mother. People need to understand Muslims before judging them, he said.
“Some people are bringing this war to this country,” Yousef said. “We cannot do that. We can’t bring the war here. We cannot bring hatred to this country . . . we need that to stop.”
This story has been updated to correct the spelling of ‘Mahmoud.'
Odai Al Fayoumi, father of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, speaks to the media after the sentencing of Czuba outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Will County Prosecutor Christopher Koch exits the Will County Courthouse after the sentencing of Joseph Czuba in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Odai Al Fayoumi, left, father of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, walks out of the Will County Courthouse after the sentencing of Czuba in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Odai Al Fayoumi, left, father of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, walks out of the Will County Courthouse after the sentencing of Czuba in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Mahmoud Yousef, grandfather of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, speaks to the media after the sentencing of outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Mahmoud Yousef, grandfather of Wadee Al Fayoumi, who was murdered by Joseph Czuba in 2023, speaks to the media after the sentencing of Czuba outside the Will County Courthouse in Joliet, Ill., Friday, May 2, 2025. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
FILE - Wadee Alfayoumi's father, Oday Al Fayoume, seated right, and his uncle Mahmoud Yousef attend a vigil for Wadee at Prairie Activity and Recreation center in Plainfield, Ill., Oct. 17, 2023. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
FILE - Joseph Czuba, 71, stands before Circuit Judge Dave Carlson for his arraignment at the Will County, Ill., courthouse, Oct. 30, 2023, in Joliet, Ill. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
