Oklahoma City Thunder: Not too long ago, the Thunder were in Bobcats' shoes

The last team to struggle like that inside the facility was the Thunder in its first month of existence when Brooks, then an assistant, inherited a 1-12 team after P.J. Carlesimo was fired as coach. Brooks promptly went 1-12 himself.

The 45-point victory is the largest in OKC history and the 69 points were the fewest the Thunder has ever allowed.

A sellout crowd of 18,203 was kind enough to stick around until the fourth quarter before getting on with their lives.

The game could have gotten even more out of hand had Brooks not taken his starters out with 6:58 remaining in the third quarter when the mismatch had reached its pinnacle at 79-25. From that point forward, Charlotte outscored the Thunder 44-35.

The Thunder was shooting 59.6 percent from the field when its starters were removed from the game compared to 17.8 percent for the Bobcats.

Perhaps some NBA futility records could have been set — such as fewest points in the 24-second shot clock era (1954-55) by Chicago in an 82-49 loss to Miami on April 10, 1999 — had Brooks not been so sympathetic.

“They were hitting on all five pistons,” Bobcats coach Mike Dunlap said of the Thunder.

Charlotte (7-6) came in on such a high note.

Last season, the Bobcats finished 7-59 to set a season record for the worst winning percentage in NBA history (. 106).