Has an NBA game ever ended 81-72?
It has. 81-72 has been a NBA final 13 times in 77,318 games. The first was Anderson Packers beat Tri-Cities Blackhawks on December 1, 1949; the latest was Chicago Bulls beat Milwaukee Bucks on January 10, 2014.
That makes 81-72 the 1204th most common final score out of 3,189 that have ever occurred in NBA. One point away, 82-72 has happened 15 times and 81-73 has happened 10 times. At one point the score disappeared for 40 years, between 1953 and 1993.
Every 81-72 in NBA history
| Date | Result | Season | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-01-10 | Chicago Bulls over Milwaukee Bucks | 2013 | |
| 2012-12-29 | Memphis Grizzlies over Denver Nuggets | 2012 | |
| 2012-11-19 | Atlanta Hawks over Orlando Magic | 2012 | |
| 2001-03-02 | Chicago Bulls over New York Knicks | 2000 | |
| 1999-04-06 | Orlando Magic over New York Knicks | 1998 | |
| 1996-03-19 | Cleveland Cavaliers over Dallas Mavericks | 1995 | |
| 1996-01-02 | New Jersey Nets over Milwaukee Bucks | 1995 | |
| 1993-12-23 | Chicago Bulls over Detroit Pistons | 1993 | |
| 1954-02-25 | Philadelphia Warriors over Minneapolis Lakers | 1953 | |
| 1953-02-14 | Rochester Royals over Milwaukee Hawks | 1952 | |
| 1950-03-02 | New York Knicks over Boston Celtics | 1949 | |
| 1949-12-17 | Philadelphia Warriors over Waterloo Hawks | 1949 | |
| 1949-12-01 | Anderson Packers over Tri-Cities Blackhawks | 1949 |