Jerami Grant’s Season-High 17 Points Spark Grizzlies’ Win Over Raptors

With 9:58 left Monday night, the Raptors trailed the Grizzlies by a single point, 91-90. Sixteen seconds later, Jerami Grant made a 3-pointer off a pass from Cameron Boozer.

Grant scored 17 points off the bench, and the Memphis Grizzlies went on to a 118-102 win in Toronto. He shot 6-of-9 from the field, 3-of-3 from 3-point range, and 2-of-2 at the free-throw line in 22:19.

Jakob Poeltl’s layup got the Raptors back within 94-92. Grant hit another 3 with 8:15 to play, again from Boozer, to make it 101-92. Seventeen seconds after that, he stole a Poeltl pass, and Poeltl blocked his fast-break layup at the other end.

He scored 6 points in 5:01 of fourth-quarter floor time.

Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said Memphis came up with timely stops in the fourth quarter.

“He had a couple of corner threes from the Booz passes, skip passes to the left corner, knocked those down,” Iisalo said, “but he also scored out of transition, got to the free throw line, made some defensive plays, and it’s just a guy that’s seen a lot. To have his veteran presence in our team, where we have a lot of young guys, not just the locker room presence, but also on the court, to help them and to understand the level of detail that’s necessary. It’s very good for us.”

Grant checked in with 5:59 left in the first quarter and scored on an 11-foot fadeaway 39 seconds later. His 16-foot step-back from Javon Small tied the game 20-20, and he set up a Taylor Hendricks 3-pointer before the period ended.

In the second quarter, he blocked a Jamal Shead floater and made two free throws on the next trip down. His 3-pointer from Boozer with 29.6 seconds left before halftime made it 59-51.

With 2:01 left in the third, Grant put back his own miss after Trayce Jackson-Davis blocked his layup. He also assisted on Ty Jerome’s 27-foot step-back earlier in that period.

He finished with 3 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal, and a block. Memphis and Toronto played even in his 22:19.

Jerome said everyone on the roster does a great job of staying ready.

“Just resilience, man,” Jerome said. “Zach and Booz made some big-time plays. Jerami was awesome tonight. Got contributions from everybody. Stayed together for 48 minutes.”

Memphis acquired Grant and Kris Murray from Portland on June 29 for Ja Morant. Grant is making $34.2 million this season, and his contract carries a player option for 2027-28.

He averaged 18.6 points for the Trail Blazers last season. Memphis is his sixth NBA team.

Through nine games with the Grizzlies, all off the bench, Grant averaged 9.7 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists in 24.1 minutes. He shot 41.1% from the field and 40.0% from 3-point range.

His previous season high was 15, in his Grizzlies debut against Utah on Oct. 21. He entered Monday with four straight double-figure games off the bench, according to the team’s game notes, including 11 on 4-of-10 shooting in the 107-103 loss to Indiana and 10 on 4-of-6 in Friday’s loss to Oklahoma City.

Grant is 32 and in his 13th NBA season. He was the 39th pick in 2014 out of Syracuse, and his career high is 49 points, against Detroit on Feb. 8, 2024.

Murray played the final 48 seconds Monday.

Denver comes to FedExForum on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. CT tip-off. Memphis (7-3) then visits New Orleans on Friday and returns home Saturday to face Brooklyn.