Ty Jerome Explains What It Felt Like to Reach 45-Point ‘Zone’ in Grizzlies' Opener

Ty Jerome had never scored more than 33 points in an NBA game before Wednesday.

He scored 45 against the Utah Jazz at FedExForum, and the Memphis Grizzlies won the season opener 123-103.

The total broke the franchise record for points in an opener. Ja Morant set the old mark with 44 in 2020.

Jerome made 17 of his 25 shots. Half of his 10 3-point attempts went in, he was 6-of-7 at the line, and he finished with 7 rebounds and 6 assists in nearly 32 minutes.

The previous high came with Cleveland on Jan. 24, 2025, a 33-point game at Philadelphia.

Utah won the first quarter 31-29 even with Jerome scoring 13 points in it. Jerome said Memphis was getting good looks from the start.

“Sometimes, yeah, but I’ve got confidence in everybody,” Jerome said in his walk-off interview. “I think sometimes basketball is a game of runs. You’re going to miss some. You’re going to make some. And we were getting great looks to start the game. I told everyone, keep taking our looks. And we did that, and we started to make them.”

He had 19 points at halftime, with Memphis up 64-51. After the break, he added 26 more.

His fifth 3-pointer came from the logo at midcourt and put him at 41 points.

Getting into a stretch like that is something Jerome works toward.

“It’s fun, right?” Jerome explained. “You work so hard, try to get in those zones, and when it comes, it’s a good night.”

Jerome checked out in the final minute to a standing ovation.

GG Jackson II has a 40-point game of his own. He scored 44 against Denver in the 2023-24 regular-season finale, still the Grizzlies’ rookie scoring record.

“He’s super elite,” Jackson said. “He can score from anywhere on the floor. And when he came back to the bench, I told him, ‘Welcome to the 40-point club.’ I got one too.”

Jerome's performance came in his first season as Memphis' full-time starting point guard.

Morant’s departure opened the job. Memphis dealt Morant to Portland over the summer for a package that included Jerami Grant and Kris Murray, and Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo has Jerome running the offense full time this season.

Jerome signed a three-year contract with Memphis in July 2025. A high-grade right calf strain in the preseason finale at Miami that October kept him out until January.

In 15 games for the Grizzlies last season, he averaged 19.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 5.7 assists. He shot 47.4% from the field, 42.0% from 3-point range, and 87.5% from the free-throw line.

An ankle injury kept him out through the end of the season.

The season before that, in Cleveland, he averaged 12.5 points in 70 games on 51.6% shooting from the field and 43.9% from 3-point range.

Philadelphia drafted Jerome 24th overall in 2019, months after he won a national championship at Virginia. Memphis is his fifth NBA team, following Phoenix, Oklahoma City, Golden State, and Cleveland.

He is making $9,220,050 this season, the second year of the deal.

An NBA scout who spoke to Grizzlies Roundtable in September expects Memphis to trade Jerome before the 2027 deadline.

One game does not settle that question, but Jerome's opening-night performance showed what his expanded role can look like when everything clicks.

Memphis opens a four-game road trip Friday against the Golden State Warriors. Tip-off at Chase Center is 9 p.m. CT.