Ty Jerome Reveals the Defensive Mistake Utah Made During 45-Point Explosion

Utah played most of Ty Jerome's ball screens in a drop Wednesday night and did not send much extra help, according to Jerome.

He scored a career-high 45 points as the Memphis Grizzlies beat the Utah Jazz 123-103 in the season opener at FedExForum.

Jerome made 17 of his 25 shots. He went 5-of-10 from 3-point range and 6-of-7 at the free-throw line, and he added 7 rebounds and 6 assists in nearly 32 minutes.

The 45 points broke the franchise record for a season opener. Ja Morant held the old mark with 44 in 2020, according to the Grizzlies Roundtable recap and The Associated Press.

His previous career high was 33. That came with Cleveland at Philadelphia on Jan. 24, 2025.

The logo 3 that got him to 41 came after Utah went under a screen, and Jerome was already feeling it by then.

"I say this all the time, man. The game kind of tells you what to do," Jerome said. "And they were playing most of my ball screens, like, in a drop and weren't really sending extra help. And those are shots that I shoot every day besides maybe the very last one. That was a little far.

"But everyone else, man, like, I shoot those shots every day," Jerome continued. "So if teams are going to play us like that, I'm confident in those shots. And basketball kind of tells you what to do. Shoot, pass, dribble. It's a simple game."

Twenty-two of his points came in the paint, where he made 11 of 14 shots. He had 19 at halftime and scored 26 more after the break.

Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said Utah chose to defend those actions either by switching or by sitting in a deeper drop. He said Memphis had worked a lot on those interactions.

"Well, the way the offense is built right now is we have a few focal points that we go through, and Ty is obviously one of those," Iisalo said. "And I thought he did a good job today of being aggressive initially, then getting off of it if he didn't have the chance and trusting that the ball will find him and come back. And I think he did a great job with that. And obviously, every game we're going against a thinking opponent. So I think the logical consequence is this, is teams will put more resources into stopping him. And that will then, in turn, open up opportunities for the other players.

"That's why I'm not so sure offense is action and defense is reaction. A lot of times it's the opposite way," Iisalo continued. "The defense will choose what they're going to give the offense, and today they chose to go talent against talent. So those Zach-Ty or [Boozer]-Ty ball screens against their two defenders. That seemed like not a great idea. So probably we will see something that's more of like a five-man based defense next."

Zach Edey finished with 6 points and 9 rebounds in 21 minutes. Memphis scored 58 points in the paint to Utah's 46.

This is Jerome's first season as the full-time starting point guard in Memphis. The job opened when the Grizzlies traded Morant to Portland over the summer in a deal that brought back Jerami Grant and Kris Murray, and Iisalo has handed Jerome the offense.

Iisalo has joked about comparing Jerome's numbers to those of some of the best offensive handlers in the league.

"Not the first time I've seen it this year. He does that also in practices, and he's never afraid of the moment," Iisalo explained. "He's one of those players that is somehow able to build momentum also. It becomes very, very difficult to stop if he gets going. And just a tremendous, tremendous performance from him today. He is an extremely high-level shooter. We've joked about the comparisons to some of the best offensive handlers in the league, but the numbers are essentially the same. They are just a lot smaller. The game sample and the minutes are a lot smaller.

"So it says a lot about his ability, for this type of offensive explosions, that it is there," Iisalo added. "Then the challenge is obviously to sustain it and to do it night after night and in a role that he really hasn't been in before in the NBA as a starting point guard. So that's another super interesting thing coaching-wise and team-wise to kind of help guide that process too, and I think we got off to a very good start."

Jerome signed a three-year contract with Memphis in July 2025. A right calf strain kept him out until the end of January, and he played 15 games last season, averaging 19.7 points, 2.8 rebounds, and 5.7 assists in 22.6 minutes.

He is making $9,220,050 this season, the second year of the deal. Philadelphia drafted him 24th overall in 2019, months after he won a national championship at Virginia, and Memphis is his fifth NBA team.

Memphis led by 27 three different times in the third quarter Wednesday. The lead was 19, at 98-79, going into the fourth.

Defense is where Jerome wants this group to hang its hat all season.

"It's always easier after I watch the film to answer a question like that. But [I'd point to] that mid to late third quarter. We stopped getting back on defense for a second," Jerome explained. "Stuff like that can't happen, especially as we continue to go and continue to play against really good teams. Stuff like that can't happen, like mental lapses, stuff like that. Probably fouled too much tonight.

"There's definitely some more things we can clean up, but I [would] point to those two things right off the top of my head and then moving forward," Jerome detailed. "We'll watch the film tomorrow. I'm sure Tuomas will have a ton of stuff we can clean up. He's good at that. It's important to have someone like that when we're trying to get better every day."

The Grizzlies were called for 26 personal fouls, and Utah went 22-of-33 at the free-throw line.

Memphis plays the Golden State Warriors on Friday at Chase Center, the first stop on a four-game road trip. Tip-off is 9 p.m. CT.