Cameron Boozer Wants Defense to Become the Grizzlies' Identity

Royce O'Neale hit a 3-pointer 7:36 into Friday night's game at FedExForum, and the Charlotte Hornets were up 17-6. They finished with 98 points. The Memphis Grizzlies won 117-98 in their preseason finale and went 3-1 in exhibition play.

Cameron Boozer said in a walk-off interview after the game that the Grizzlies want to make defense what they do.

"I think on the defensive end," Boozer said. "That's what we really want to buy into and make kind of what we do. And I think Charlotte's a great team. We hold them to 98 points, so a good team win tonight."

Over the rest of the opening quarter, Memphis outscored Charlotte 17-3 and took a 23-20 lead. The Grizzlies were ahead 50-38 at halftime. Charlotte never got closer than 13 after that.

Charlotte turned it over 24 times. Memphis had 14 steals.

The Hornets went 26-of-30 at the free-throw line. The Grizzlies were called for 30 fouls.

Memphis allowed 123 points at Atlanta in the Oct. 5 opener and 122 at home against Orlando two nights later. Chicago scored 100 on Oct. 9, when Javon Small made two free throws with 0.7 seconds left to decide a 104-100 Memphis win.

Friday's rebounding margin was 42-35 in Memphis' favor, and Boozer is not satisfied with where the Grizzlies are on the glass.

"Just crashing the boards, getting [rebounds] as a team," Boozer explained. "Overall, we've got to be better on that side, but we're working on it."

On the night Memphis drafted him third overall in June, Boozer said he and Zach Edey would "automatically become one of the best rebounding duos in the league," according to The Associated Press.

Edey had 10 points and 6 rebounds in 21 minutes against Charlotte. The 7-foot-3 center shot 3-of-5 from the field and 4-of-4 at the line.

Injuries limited him to 11 games last season. Friday was his third preseason appearance, after 10 minutes against Orlando and 16 at Chicago.

With 9:20 left in the third quarter, Edey scored on a hook off a Boozer pass. Boozer is fine throwing the ball up there for Edey.

"He's a big target," Boozer said, "so just throwing it up there, trusting to go finish, and he's doing it."

Boozer finished with 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 assists in 29 minutes. He shot 4-of-13 from the field and 9-of-10 from the line.

His preseason totals were 56 points in four games and 20-of-24 shooting at the line. He averaged 22.5 points and 10.2 rebounds in his one season at Duke.

Kris Murray started Friday in place of Jaylen Wells, who had started each of the first three exhibitions.

An ankle injury from the Oct. 9 game in Chicago kept GG Jackson II out, and Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo has called him day-to-day. The Grizzlies announced that same day that Isaiah Stewart had sprained his left ankle in the opener at Atlanta and was likely to miss Opening Night.

The Hornets played all four exhibitions without Coby White because of a left calf strain from camp and finished 1-3. Charlotte got 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench from Hannes Steinbach, the 14th pick in June. Brandon Miller and Christian Anderson scored 15 apiece.

Boozer has seen a lot of toughness in this group over four exhibitions.

"Just how competitive we are," Boozer said. "We got a lot of toughness here, and we're going to keep fighting and keep playing hard."

Memphis opens the regular season Wednesday, Oct. 21, against the Utah Jazz at 7 p.m. CT at FedExForum. Utah's roster includes Darryn Peterson, the second overall pick in June, and former Grizzlies forward Jaren Jackson Jr.

The Grizzlies then play four straight road games, starting Oct. 23 against the Golden State Warriors. The third of those is a second meeting with Utah on Oct. 26.