Grizzlies Beat Hornets 117-98 in Preseason Finale as Cameron Boozer Scores 19

The Charlotte Hornets turned the ball over 24 times Friday night at FedExForum, and the Memphis Grizzlies closed the preseason with a 117-98 win.

It was the Grizzlies' first game in a week. Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said they used those days to run what was basically a second training camp at home, in a video Grind City Media posted afterward.

"The stuff that I said in the locker room and also said to the coaches, something we've said over the years, better to have tired legs and good habits than bad habits and fresh legs," Iisalo said. "And the amount of work the guys have been putting in, I know that everybody's very tired in that locker room because we basically ran a second camp this week here at home, but see the level of execution really pick up, the communication, the physicality."

"And we overall, almost all the way up until the end, we did also a good job against a very strong rebounding team," Iisalo continued.

Memphis finished 3-1 in exhibition play. Charlotte went 1-3, all of it without Coby White, who strained his left calf in camp and was ruled out for the preseason on Oct. 5.

The Hornets had a 17-6 lead after Royce O'Neale's 3-pointer with 4:24 left in the first quarter.

Over the rest of the period, Quinten Post scored twice inside, Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Scotty Pippen Jr. hit 3s, and Cameron Boozer added one of his own as Memphis went on a 17-3 run to take a 23-20 lead.

Christian Anderson tied it at 33 with a 3-pointer, 4:07 before halftime. Memphis scored 17 of the last 22 points of the half.

Ty Jerome had 8 of them in the final 49 seconds, and his pull-up 3 at the buzzer, off a pass from Cedric Coward, made it 50-38.

Coward said the Grizzlies came out of a timeout knowing what needed fixing.

"Stuck together," Coward said. "We came back in the timeout, understanding what we need to do to be better, what we need to do to get back on track."

The Hornets did not get within 12 again.

Boozer, the third overall pick in June, led Memphis with 19 points and 7 rebounds in 29 minutes. Nine of his points came at the free-throw line, where he missed once in 10 tries. From the field, he was 4-of-13.

Jerome finished with 17 points, 3 steals, and 4 assists. Coward scored 13, his first time in double figures this preseason, and all 4 of his assists turned into 3-pointers.

Memphis had 14 steals. Boozer said the Grizzlies have been great in transition this preseason, and that starts with getting stops.

"It's a lot of fun when everyone's guarding together and we're getting stops, [getting] steals, [blocking] shots, forcing [them] to turn the ball over," Boozer said. "It's a lot of fun. It's a fun way to play basketball. And [it lets us] get [out in] transition, where I think we've been great, so it's amazing when we're all guarding like that."

On the glass, the Grizzlies won 42-35.

Zach Edey, who was limited by injuries to 11 games last season, played in his third preseason game and wants Memphis to win that way, he said in remarks Grind City Media posted.

"That's just how we want to win games," Edey said. "We want to out-compete people. We want to kind of make it dirty, make it like a slugfest, get those rebounds, control the paint, get more possession[s than] the other team. That's what we did today."

Walter Clayton Jr. had 4 assists in the fourth quarter. Three came during a 12-1 Memphis run.

Hannes Steinbach, the 14th pick in June, came off the Charlotte bench for 19 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 steals on 7-of-9 shooting. Brandon Miller and Anderson scored 15 apiece. Naz Reid added 12.

Charlotte shot 26-of-30 from the line, and the Grizzlies were whistled for 30 fouls.

Iisalo wants his players to show more poise in reading how a game is being called.

"And now the last hurdle remains: how do we keep teams off the free-throw line?" Iisalo explained. "That's one of the things where we've got to show better poise and better recognition during the game what's being called and not allow to or not bail the other team out."

Kris Murray got the start over Jaylen Wells, a starter in each of the first three exhibitions.

GG Jackson II did not play. He tweaked his ankle Oct. 9 in Chicago, and Iisalo called him day-to-day.

That Oct. 9 game was the last one Memphis played before Friday, a 104-100 win decided by two Javon Small free throws with 0.7 seconds on the clock.

Before that came a 132-123 win in Atlanta and a 122-118 loss at home to Orlando.

The Utah Jazz are next. Memphis hosts them Wednesday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. CT, then heads west for four road games in seven days, beginning with the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 23.

Charlotte opens the same night against the Brooklyn Nets.