The Memphis Grizzlies host the Denver Nuggets Wednesday, but the Grizzlies wouldn’t be opposed to playing another game away from FedExForum.
Memphis enjoys being at home, but so far this season the Grizzlies have particularly embraced competition on the road.
After Monday’s 118-102 victory at Toronto, the Grizzlies improved to 5-0 on the road, marking the first time in franchise history the team has opened the season with five straight wins away from home.
The Grizzlies also snapped a three-game losing streak in the process.
Memphis is off to a 7-3 start. Most of the Grizzlies’ success can be traced to their defensive play. In the win over Toronto, the Grizzlies held the Raptors to 21 fourth-quarter points.
“Guys really locked in defensively,” Memphis coach Tuomas Iisalo said. “You could see the defensive pressure from the first moment on.
“And we came up with some very timely stops in the fourth quarter”
Iisalo said if the Grizzlies can cut down on their turnovers, they’ll enjoy more success. Memphis has the second-youngest team in the NBA.
“Hopefully we can reduce the amount of mistakes,” Iisalo said. “But those are normal when you have a young team and a team that has been together for a very short amount of time.”
Once again, the Grizzlies got a solid effort from rookie forward Cam Boozer, the team’s first-round pick and the third pick overall in June’s NBA Draft. Boozer had 22 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
“He scored in transition, he got to the free-throw line, he made some defensive plays,” Iisalo said. “He’s just a guy that’s seen a lot, and to have a veteran presence on a team with a lot of young guys is very good for us.”
Jerami Grant scored 17 points off the bench against Toronto, and his contributions kept Memphis afloat throughout the second half when the Raptors rallied on several occasions. But he deferred praise to Boozer.
“He came in with high expectations and he’s reaching those expectations already,” Grant said. “He’s one of the best rookies in the league and he’s showing it night in and night out.”
The Nuggets fell 110-100 to the Houston Rockets on Monday despite 38 points from Jamal Murray. Nikola Jokic added his trademark output of 25 points, 16 rebounds and nine assists.
Denver coach David Adelman said his team was beaten because of its poor effort rebounding. The Rockets finished with 15 offensive rebounds. In the second-chance points category, Houston outscored the Nuggets, 24-11.
“It killed us,” Adelman said. “It’s the present-day NBA, the modern NBA. A lot of these games are won off offensive rebounds and extra possessions. That really cost us.”
Murray and Jokic combined for 63 of Denver’s 100 points. The Nuggets were dealing with the exhaustion related to playing a game Saturday in Mexico City followed by travel snarls that brought them back to the U.S. only hours before playing the Rockets. Denver had won four of its previous five games leading into Monday’s contest.
“I just felt like mentally we weren’t good enough,” Adelman said. “We gave effort. But with our two guys having to do the majority of the scoring, that’s not going to win the game.”
