Grizzlies Rout Pelicans 142-111 as 10 Players Score in Double Figures

Javon Small scored on a drive with 26 seconds to go Friday night, and that basket gave the Memphis Grizzlies 10 players in double figures in a 142-111 win over the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center.

Cam Spencer threw him the pass, one of 36 assists for the Grizzlies on the night.

Jerami Grant led everybody with 22 points, and he needed only 10 shots off the bench to get there. Ty Jerome had 17 points and 9 assists.

"Super proud of our performance today," Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said. "Had a tough one against Denver the other night, and to come in here and have this type of performance and, like you said, a full team performance. To me, we committed to the things that we didn't do so well in the Denver game and took the lessons and applied it today."

"Overall, the biggest difference from possession to possession is when we stick to the things we've practiced, the basketball looks really good in spurts already, which is very encouraging for early season," Iisalo continued. "But you saw several sequences where the ball is moving great. Guys are making — I wouldn't call it unselfish. They're just making the right reads out of the situation. And they are being aggressive, but they're drawing a second defender and then finding the open teammate, and the next player does the same, etc., etc."

Denver beat Memphis 123-118 at FedExForum on Wednesday. The Grizzlies are 8-4 now, with wins in all six of their road games and losses in four of their six at home.

New Orleans handed them their first loss of the season on Nov. 2, 135-134 in overtime in Memphis, and that ended a 6-0 start. Cedric Coward said at shootaround Friday that the Pelicans "punked us" in that game.

"They beat us at home, so we had to get them right back," Taylor Hendricks said.

Saddiq Bey had 11 in the third quarter alone. When his 3-pointer dropped with 6:01 to go, New Orleans trailed only 80-77.

Iisalo had sent five reserves in together during a New Orleans timeout at the 6:05 mark: Spencer, Small, Grant, Hendricks, and GG Jackson.

Memphis scored 25 of the last 34 points of the quarter. Jackson hit 3-pointers on back-to-back trips, Small and Spencer each made one, and Grant and Spencer went 7-for-7 at the free-throw line. It was 105-86 going to the fourth.

Bey finished with 30 points and went 6-of-9 from 3-point range. The rest of the Pelicans went 1-of-22. Zion Williamson scored 22 and made all eight of his free throws.

"I think we were just more connected," Spencer said. "Guys were in gap. Obviously [Bey] was hitting some shots. We made some adjustments on him, and just showing more bodies at Zion and some of their bigger threats on offense. We were just a little bit more connected on that end."

Zach Edey (left ankle injury management) and Quinten Post (concussion protocol) were ruled out before tip-off. Isaiah Stewart started at center and blocked 4 shots in 20 minutes.

The Memphis bench scored 76. New Orleans' bench scored 27.

Memphis put up exactly 35 points in each of the first three quarters, then 37 in the fourth. The Grizzlies went 36-of-41 at the line and 18-of-45 from 3-point range, and they turned it over 12 times.

New Orleans scored 52 points in the paint, and Iisalo said the Grizzlies had to bring rotations over against its on-ball talent.

"Defensively, that same thing comes up in everybody sprinting back as a five-man unit," Iisalo said. "Nobody jogging back, helping the other guy. New Orleans has a lot of on-ball talent, guys who can get to the rim, and we were bringing the rotations over, but then the helper has got to be there, and the other guys. So you saw on both ends really nice combinations from all five guys, and this on top of the great effort."

Coward had 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists and did not turn it over. Cameron Boozer posted 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jackson and Spencer scored 14 apiece, Stewart had 12, and Jaylen Wells had 11 with 3 steals. Hendricks grabbed 12 rebounds to go with his 10 points.

Williamson, Herbert Jones, and Malik Dia were each called for flagrant fouls. New Orleans fell to 4-9.

Memphis hosts the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday at 7 p.m. CT.