Memphis came into this season with almost nobody expecting much, and six games in, the Grizzlies have already blown past that script.
A team that was projected by nearly everyone to land below 30 wins - with some forecasts not even getting them past 25 - is sitting at 6-0 after a 136-105 demolition of the Sacramento Kings. That’s a sharp turn from last season’s 25-win mess, when everything seemed to go sideways at once: Ja Morant’s assorted injuries and controversies, Zach Edey needing more surgery after the Grizzlies went 7-3 when he played, Jaren Jackson Jr. being traded, and 31 different players getting run at some point.
Total chaos. No continuity.
This group looks nothing like that version so far. Ty Jerome opened the season with a scorching scoring run.
Cam Boozer has been doing things that no teenage rookie, not even LeBron James, has before. Cedric Coward has taken a leap.
Edey has been available. Jaylen Wells has been steady.
Put it all together, and Memphis has a real case to be taken seriously.
The wins haven’t exactly come against a murderers’ row. Memphis has beaten Utah twice, Sacramento twice, Golden State and Portland.
The Warriors are 3-2 and the Blazers are 4-0 against everyone else, but the Jazz and Kings have combined for just one victory. Sacramento was expected to be this bad.
Utah was supposed to be better than Memphis, but its rookie, Darryn Peterson, hasn’t broken through the way Boozer has, and the Grizzlies have also been healthier - Jackson Jr. is out a while, but he’s on the Jazz now.
Even so, the schedule doesn’t look like it’s about to slam shut on Memphis anytime soon.
Next up is Monday’s home game against the 2-4 New Orleans Pelicans, the first of two meetings with New Orleans in the first two weeks of November. Between those Pelicans games, the Grizzlies get the Pacers, Thunder, Raptors and Nuggets, which on paper looks like a run through four playoff contenders. Oklahoma City, though, is missing Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace.
After the second Pelicans game, Memphis draws Brooklyn and Washington, matchups that would appear to be winnable.
A lot of this still comes down to health, but right now there isn’t much to nitpick. Memphis leads the NBA in net rating at 14.3, just ahead of Houston, and it’s first in both offensive rating and defensive rating.
Jerome, Boozer and Edey have each missed one game, and the Grizzlies have still looked organized, balanced and hard to shake. The ball is moving.
The rebounding has been elite.
If the injuries stay away, this could stretch into a long winning streak.
And that would be impressive no matter who’s standing across from them.
In Other News...
Cam Boozer Is Giving The Grizzlies A Rookie Of The Year Buzz
Cam Boozer has wasted no time making the Grizzlies early-season start feel even more promising. The rookie has already checked off a string of eye-catching milestones, including a triple-double that made him the second-youngest player ever to do it, and he has quickly become one of the biggest reasons Memphis is unbeaten to open the year.
The production has been just as loud as the buzz around it, with Boozer giving the Grizzlies a steady two-way presence and a playmaking element that is not usually expected this soon from a first-year player. With a relatively favorable stretch coming up, Memphis has a chance to keep building momentum while the Rookie of the Year conversation starts to take shape around one of its newest faces. [Read more 🡒]
Grizzlies Unbeaten Start Faces A New Concern Before Pelicans Game
Memphis has opened the season unbeaten, but the first real pregame concern on the injury front is starting to take shape ahead of its meeting with New Orleans. The Pelicans are dealing with a mixed report of their own, with Trey Murphy III listed as probable even as he works through bilateral patella tendinopathy, while Yves Missi and Jordan Poole have already been ruled out.
For the Grizzlies, the attention turns to their own availability list, where Scotty Pippen Jr. is doubtful and Quinten Post is questionable. It is the sort of early-season wrinkle that can matter even in a game that already carries plenty of weight, especially for a Memphis team trying to keep its strong start intact while managing bodies before the matchup tips. [Read more 🡒]
Grizzlies Are Finally Seeing Why Tuomas Iisalo Trusted His System
Tuomas Iisalos first full season guiding the Grizzlies drew plenty of skepticism, mostly because of the way he handled his rotation. The short, high-intensity stints were easy to question when Memphis was trying to find its footing, but the roster looks different now with more key players healthy and the offense starting to reflect the structure Iisalo has been building all along.
The payoff has shown up in the way the ball moves and in the expanded responsibilities for players who are being asked to do more than before, including Isaiah Stewart and Cam Spencer. For a team that spent much of last season getting judged through the lens of its coachs methods, this early stretch is at least offering a clearer picture of why Iisalo stayed committed to his system. [Read more 🡒]