The Grizzlies Are NBA’s Last Remaining Unbeaten Team. What’s Clicking and Are They for Real?

The Memphis Grizzlies are 6–0, the last unbeaten team standing nearly two weeks into the NBA season.

It’s the beginning of a new era. None of the former core remains with Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane all traded elsewhere. Cameron Boozer’s arrival as the No. 3 pick in the draft brought Memphis a new franchise player, but this team wasn’t expected to be good immediately. Zach Edey’s return from injury and some solid offseason acquisitions gave the Grizzlies an intriguing roster. A tough team that no opponent would have fun against.

But nobody saw this coming. Ty Jerome was on fire to start the season. Boozer and Edey look like a dominant force. Even Isaiah Stewart has brought scoring and hard-nosed defense off the bench. The roster is surprisingly deep and clearly has the ability to win games.

Still, though, it’s very early in what’s a long season. How sustainable is this Grizzlies run? And what have they done well that has resulted in the NBA’s best early story?

Through six games, the Memphis Grizzlies are the NBA’s best all-around team

Ty Jerome’s early scoring outbursts started the Grizzlies’ season off on the right foot. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Memphis is scoring more than any team through six games alongside a top defensive unit. With 727 total points, the Grizzlies set a franchise record for the most points through six games. Their 121.2 points per contest is the best mark in the league, which narrowly inches out the Cavaliers at 121.0 points per game. The offensive outbursts are in large part due to the Grizzlies’ efficiency from three-point range. As a team, they have connected on 41.6% of their 38.5 three-point attempts per game. That amounts to 16 made threes each game, more than any other team.

The shooting excellence goes up and down the roster. Cedric Coward, Cam Spencer, GG Jackson II, Quinten Post and Stewart are all rotation players that are shooting above 40% from deep. Javon Small operated the second unit in Saturday’s win over the Kings with Jerome sidelined and he went 2-for-4 from three-point range. Even Edey drained the only three he’s taken this year!

That’s all before you even get to the volume shooters in Jerome, Boozer and Jaylen Wells. Memphis has gotten 6.3 three-pointers per game thus far out of that trio. Inside the arc, the frontcourt depth has been outstanding. Edey hasn’t contributed a ton offensively, but he operates as a true force near the rim who gets a handful of easy buckets per game. Then you have Post and Stewart off the bench who are shooting 83.3% and 73.9% so far on two-pointers, respectively.

On the defensive end, Memphis has given up 106.0 points per game. That’s the best mark in the Western Conference and ranks third across the entire league behind only the Pistons and the 76ers. Edey’s a force as a rim protector while him and Boozer can grab any rebound. Coward, Jerome and Wells have been great perimeter defenders early on, too. Even Jerami Grant has played some good defense and made some shots in his minutes.

Everyone has contributed to the Grizzlies’ incredible start, from Boozer’s immediate arrival as a potential All-Star to Small facilitating the offense and knocking down shots in his first appearance of the season. And the group effort makes Memphis the NBA’s best team both record wise and statistically in the early going.

Stat	Grizzlies’ mark	Rank amongst all NBA teams
Points per game	121.2	1st
Offensive rating	118.8	3rd
Defensive rating	104.1	3rd
Net rating	14.7	1st
Three-point percentage	41.6%	1st
Three-point field goals per game	16.0	1st
Rebounds per game	49.8	1st

The flip side to Memphis’ 6–0 start is its schedule. With two wins against the Kings (0–6) and two more against the Jazz (1–5), the Grizzlies had nothing close to the tough schedule out of the gate some title contenders did. There were nice wins over the Trail Blazers and the Warriors. Boozer even made a go-ahead jumper with 20 seconds left to get past Steph Curry and Golden State in the second game of the season. The win over Portland came while Morant was still healthy, too.

Difficult tests are ahead as Memphis will host the banged-up Thunder on Friday. Oklahoma City is without Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Cason Wallace, but dealing with back-to-back MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his supporting cast remains a good measuring stick for the young Grizz.

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Do the Grizzlies have a legitimate shot to make a run in the Western Conference?

Easy schedule or not, 6–0 is 6–0. Memphis has yet to lose, which no other NBA team can say. At the start, it was Jerome’s incredible scoring performances on his way to Western Conference Player of the Week honors. He put up 45 points in the first game of the season, then followed that with performances of 28 and 31 points—104 total over three games!

The best news for the Grizzlies, though, is Boozer’s early play. He put up a new high of 27 points along with nine rebounds and three assists in the win over the Kings Saturday. On Thursday, he recorded his first career triple-double with 18 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists against the Blazers.

CAM BOOZER SETS A NEW CAREER HIGH AS MEMPHIS MATCHES BEST START IN FRANCHISE HISTORY 🚨

27 PTS (career-high, 17 IN 3Q)
9 REB
26 MIN

The @memgrizz are 6-0 for the first time since the 2014-15 NBA season! pic.twitter.com/0cfCpY9qny
— NBA (@NBA) November 1, 2026

Thus far, Boozer is averaging 17.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game. He’s had trouble with turnovers at times and hasn’t been as efficient as you’d want him to be near the hoop, but he looks like he could be an All-Star as soon as this year. Jerome provided the early scoring burst, but his numbers already started to level out and a nagging back injury kept him out of Saturday’s game against Sacramento. No matter if Jerome is having a night or not, Boozer will get plenty of opportunity. He put up 25 points against the Warriors, a game where Jerome had 28.

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Boozer’s immediate arrival coupled with the team’s depth makes the Grizzlies’ sudden playoff hopes legitimate. It’s still early, but their style of punching opponents in the mouth on defense and scoring fast on the other end is sustainable. We still need to see them play some of the league’s best teams and the shooting numbers will level out, but the 6–0 start can’t be scoffed at.

Every year, a team seems to come out of nowhere to throw a wrench in the playoff picture. This year, the Grizzlies look like the NBA’s surprise squad, especially with injuries wreaking havoc across the league. Memphis has a true star in Boozer and the complementary pieces around him to finish much better than expected this season.

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