3 Takeaways From Grizzlies' 124-103 Win Over Trail Blazers

The Memphis Grizzlies finished a four-game road trip with four wins Thursday night, 124-103 over the Portland Trail Blazers at Moda Center.

Cameron Boozer had 18 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 assists, the first triple-double of his NBA career. Memphis is 5-0. Portland had won its first three games and is now 3-1.

Before Thursday, Boozer had 14 points at Sacramento and 13 at Utah.

"I would just say I felt a little out of rhythm," Boozer said. "Obviously coming up with the win is the biggest thing. I feel like for me, [we've] been winning all those games, but obviously I want to play better too."

"But tonight was a lot of fun," Boozer continued. "Big-time win. Go back home. Another one Saturday. Let's keep it rolling."

It was 58-58 at halftime. The Grizzlies won the third quarter by 8 and the fourth by 13.

Portland put up 49 3-pointers. Twelve went in.

After a 7-of-26 first half from deep, the Trail Blazers made 5 of their 23 tries over the third and fourth quarters while the offense as a whole shot 15-of-43.

Damian Lillard, who hit 1 of his 9 from deep, scored 9 points on 3-of-13 shooting.

The Blazers were still within 9 when Lillard scored on a driving hook with 8:56 left. They went the next 3:34 without a point. Memphis put up 13 in that window, the last 3 of them on a 24-foot Cedric Coward step-back, and Deni Avdija's layup at 5:22 ended the drought at 111-91.

The teams split 50 rebounds evenly in the first half before Memphis took the second-half glass 29-20.

"I think it's how tough we are," Boozer explained. "Portland's a good team, and I think for us, we battled. Our first half was a little sloppy, but then we cleaned it up on the boards, cleaned it up on transition defense, and I think it just shows our grit, our toughness, and how hard we play every night."

Edey picked up his third foul with 8:42 left in the second quarter, a shooting foul on Avdija. He went to the bench with 4 points and 6 rebounds in 7:40 and did not return before halftime.

At 10:28 of the third quarter, he was called for a loose-ball foul, his fourth, and a technical foul on the same sequence. Lillard missed the technical free throw.

Three nights earlier, in a 110-105 win at Utah, Edey had four fouls 35 seconds into the second half and ended up with 4 points in 20:35.

After halftime in Portland, Edey did not miss. All four of his shots went in, the last a 25-foot 3 in transition with 9:49 to go, and he left with 13 points and 7 rebounds in 18:30.

Donovan Clingan blocked 5 shots for Portland. He also got a technical with 8:17 left in the third, and Jerome's free throw gave Memphis a 67-66 lead.

Two of Boozer's 12 assists went to Edey, including a dunk on the game's first basket.

"I think one thing is also relying on your teammates," Boozer said. "You dump it off to Zach a couple times, [set up] a couple threes, people will start getting going. It opens it up for you as well. When I'm playing like that, the game's a lot of fun. Everyone eats, and it's a great team win overall."

Jerome scored 45 in the opener against Utah, 28 at Golden State, and 31 at Sacramento. Since then he has made 7 of his 27 shots over two games, 2 of 11 from 3-point range.

He had 3 points going into the fourth quarter Thursday.

Jerome made two free throws at 10:08, picked off a Clingan pass 14 seconds later and found Edey for that transition 3, scored on a 13-foot floater, and pulled up from 28 feet at 8:43 to make it 101-89. That was 7 of his 10 points.

Jerome, Monday's Western Conference Player of the Week, has 129 points through five games.

"The vibes are the same, honestly," Jerome said. "There wasn't one game on this trip that we were like, 'Oh, my God, we got to get [this one].' We got to play our brand of basketball. We make it about us."

"Early in the season, we're going to keep trying to get better," Jerome continued. "That's been our mindset from training camp to now. So if you ask me in two months, my mindset will be the same."

Memphis opens a four-game homestand Saturday against the Sacramento Kings, who are 0-5, at 7 p.m. CT at FedExForum. The New Orleans Pelicans, Indiana Pacers, and Oklahoma City Thunder follow.