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Ty Jerome explodes in opener, and other winners and losers from Grizzlies win

Memphis starts the season 1-0 behind an career performance from its new starting point guard
Landon Speck|
Oct 21, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Ty Jerome (2) drives against Utah Jazz guard Ace Bailey (19) during the second quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
Oct 21, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Ty Jerome (2) drives against Utah Jazz guard Ace Bailey (19) during the second quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Memphis Grizzlies

The Memphis Grizzlies beat the Utah Jazz 123-103 to start the season 1-0. Here are the winners and losers from opening night, including a career night for the new starting point guard.

Winner: Ty Jerome and Zach Edey

The Grizzlies with Ty Jerome and Zach Edey on the floor vs. without the two were night and day. Jerome came out firing in the first quarter with 7 early points, setting the tone for a 19-point first half, and that was only the start of a career night.

Jerome finished with a career-high 45 points and clinched the 40 mark on a logo three-pointer. Memphis could not have asked for a better first game from its new lead guard.

The Grizzlies' ability to create good looks on offense takes a huge step up with Jerome on the floor. The bench unit played a stretch at the end of the first quarter where finding good shots was a struggle. That period came right when Jerome left the game, magnifying what life without the microwave scorer looks like.

Edey's box score production might not pop, but the eye test shows his impact was massive. He completely changes the Grizzlies' defense and locks down the glass. Memphis' frontcourt that projects to be a massive advantage looked the part and Edey was a major factor.

Winner: Jerami Grant

Grant played exactly as advertised in his Grizzlies debut. He finished with 15 points on 4-for-8 shooting. His size, positional versatility and shooting showed up and he gave good proof of concept as a plug-and-play guy in several different lineups.

Loser: Tuomas Iisalo's substitution patterns

Tuomas Iisalo's substitutions were a common criticism of the Grizzlies last season in his first year as head coach. While it has only been one game, it seems like the rotations will be similar to what they were last year.

For almost the entire second half of the first quarter, none of the Grizzlies' starters were on the floor. Utah had Jaren Jackson Jr. and Lauri Markkanen in their lineup, and that was the only part of the game that the Jazz built a real lead.

The substitutions and lineup matchups were not as evident throughout the rest of the game, with Memphis building a big lead. However, it is something to watch as the season goes on, especially with the nature of how much better the Grizzlies are with Edey and Jerome in the game.

Loser: Shot creation without Jerome

As mentioned earlier, the biggest disadvantage of Memphis' bench unit is the lack of shot creation. GG Jackson has had some moments of self-creation, and Grant seems built for a scoring role off the bench, but neither of their game profiles is like Jerome's, who can score in many different ways.

Memphis improved in this department as the game went on, but it will be interesting to see where things go with it over a bigger sample size.

Winner: Jaylen Wells' defense

Jaylen Wells and Cedric Coward are Memphis' two best perimeter defenders, and Wells put on a clinic in a sequence to start the second half, getting deflections, diving on the floor, and creating havoc to help the Grizzlies build a 22-point lead at the 6:51 mark.

Winner: Everything non-basketball related

There were storylines galore going into this game: Brandon Clarke's pregame tribute, the return of Jaren Jackson Jr. (he was injured when Utah visited last season), and the debut of Cam Boozer and Darryn Peterson.

Between the Clarke tribute and the strongest FedExForum crowd in quite some time, opening night was a resounding success on all fronts.

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Landon Speck
LANDON SPECK

Landon Speck is a Memphis-based sports creator and a University of Memphis journalism student. He also covers Memphis Tigers football and men's basketball for On3.

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