Tuomas Iisalo Explains What Makes Grizzlies Bench So Difficult to Guard

Utah led the Memphis Grizzlies 31-29 after the first quarter Wednesday night. Memphis won the second quarter 35-20, and Jerami Grant scored 13 of his 15 points in it.

The Grizzlies took a 64-51 lead into halftime and closed out a 123-103 win over the Utah Jazz in the season opener at FedExForum. Grant did not score in the first quarter.

Memphis' bench outscored Utah's 46-34. Grant led the reserves, going 4-of-9 from the field, 2-of-4 from 3-point range, and 5-of-6 at the free-throw line.

Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said that group got winded on some of its shifts, even the shorter ones of four or five minutes.

"They bring a very different type of style into it," Iisalo said. "You have five shooters out there. You have a ton of downhill pressure. Everybody can shoot, but we have Jerami, GG, Scotty able to put tremendous downhill pressure. And then you got [Quinten Post] at the five stretching the floor and Cam Spencer, one of the best shooters in the league. So it's really difficult decisions for the other team, what they need to do in that situation.

"We've talked about one of the things that unit needs to do better is we got a lot of, some people call them clapbacks," Iisalo continued. "So once we scored, they right away went back, and our transition communication was poor. And once we kept that pace up for a little bit, I thought we got a little bit winded, and even the shorter subs, like four or five minutes, it felt like those guys were a little bit out of breath. Understanding in GG's case, he missed over a week of practice. And the second thing is just taking care of the ball, making sure that we don't ignite those other teams' runs by turning the ball over.

"I feel like we have very balanced units in that way and can get them into half-court, where guys did a tremendous job overall today," Iisalo added. "And that group especially, the term we use is friction, and how much friction they caused all over the court, especially in the third quarter. I was very impressed with how the guys were applying friction without fouling, and that's critical in this league."

GG Jackson II scored 12 points and grabbed 8 rebounds in under 19 minutes. He went 2-of-2 from 3-point range and turned the ball over 4 times. Jackson made a statement after his name surfaced in Grizzlies trade rumors.

Scotty Pippen Jr. had 9 points, 5 assists, and 3 steals. Post made 3 of his 4 shots for 7 points, and Spencer added 3.

Memphis committed 15 turnovers, and Utah scored 19 points off them. The Jazz turned it over 18 times.

Grant came to Memphis in the summer trade that sent Ja Morant to Portland, a deal that also brought Kris Murray.

He averaged 18.6 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.1 assists for the Trail Blazers last season while shooting 45.3% from the field. Philadelphia drafted him 39th overall in 2014, and Memphis is his sixth NBA team.

Iisalo said Memphis practices harder than it plays games.

"And the stuff we saw from Jerami, we saw. The guy is a very high-level NBA player," Iisalo explained. "He's played basically 30 minutes or over, last, I think, seven seasons. He's had like two seasons where he hasn't, and scored almost 20 points last year. Can put the ball in a bucket. But what I liked about him was his poise in the situations. We are able to spread the floor out for him, have him attack, have GG attack. But his decision-making, getting into the paint, he got the other guys in the air, got to the free-throw line, but also had kick-out passes.

"And this was after the beginning where he wasn't maybe getting open looks, or he was open but wasn't maybe getting the pass," Iisalo noted. "So it would be very easy in that situation to get frustrated and not play for the team, but try to get your shot or your stats up. He never does this. He really plays for the team all the time, has great advice for the young guys, and [is] a terrific addition to our team."

Ty Jerome did not need a stat sheet to say what won the game. Pace, defense, and crashing the offensive glass were his list.

The Grizzlies outscored Utah 23-9 in fast-break points. They grabbed 15 offensive rebounds to the Jazz's 5 and turned them into 17 second-chance points.

"That's who we are as a group, right? Like, we're going to play, what, 10 tonight? We'll play 10, sometimes 11," Jerome said. "We got a deep team. And we're going to play fast, play in waves, and everyone's going to contribute every night. And that's who we are. I thought today was a real good example of our identity and who we want to be, and we've got to continue to build on that."

Jerome scored a career-high 45 points, a franchise record for a season opener, as Grizzlies Roundtable reported in its recap.

Ten Grizzlies played. Isaiah Stewart, listed as doubtful going in with a left ankle sprain, did not play, and Iisalo did not use Taylor Hendricks, Karim López, Jahmai Mashack, Kris Murray, or Olivier-Maxence Prosper.

Jaylen Wells scored 12 points and had 4 of Memphis' 8 steals, and Cedric Coward finished with 7 points and 7 rebounds.

The Golden State Warriors host Memphis on Friday at Chase Center at 9 p.m. CT. The trip continues Sunday in Sacramento and Monday in Salt Lake City before it ends Oct. 29 in Portland.