Ty Jerome Scores 31 as Grizzlies Beat Kings 123-112 to Move to 3-0

Isaiah Stewart turned a 5-foot floater into a three-point play with 5:28 left Sunday night, and the Memphis Grizzlies kept scoring until they had put up 11 straight points on the Sacramento Kings.

Memphis won 123-112 at Golden 1 Center and is 3-0. Sacramento is 0-3.

Ty Jerome scored 31 points on 8-of-17 shooting and made all 14 of his free throws. He added 4 rebounds and 6 assists, and Memphis was plus-27 in his 32 minutes.

The Kings had pulled even at 106 with 5:41 remaining, when Domantas Sabonis finished a reverse layup off a Zach LaVine pass and made the free throw. Memphis had led by 14 in the third quarter.

After Stewart's three-point play, Cedric Coward followed with a tip-in when Cameron Boozer missed a fast-break layup. Jerome hit a 27-foot step-back 3-pointer at 4:28 for a 114-106 lead.

On the next Memphis possession, he drove for an 8-foot floater, drew a foul from Darius Acuff Jr., and made the free throw to go up 117-106 with 3:57 to play.

LaVine ended the run with a 16-foot bank shot. The Kings got no closer than 7 the rest of the way.

Boozer dunked off a Jaylen Wells feed with 1:53 left. Wells then scored the last 4 Memphis points, on a 6-foot floater and a fast-break layup off a Coward pass at 1:10.

Memphis played time-and-score games in the preseason to simulate late-game situations, Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said.

"Huge, huge," Iisalo said. "Not just this game, but also Golden State and Utah preserving that lead. I thought we played very smart. It's one of the things we've maybe done more than a year ago, play these time-and-score games in the preseason and simulate different situations. And we've ran into a lot of them, and that has really paid off, that investment."

"Guys look very poised again," Iisalo continued. "Down the stretch we know what we're doing, we're getting the ball to the spots that we want, and the good part is that whenever we face difficulties like this, we get to solve them. So in that way, we embrace those difficulties and the challenges that other teams present us, because we think then there's one less way to beat us once we figure that out. Building a library of sorts, how to approach different situations. I'm very proud of our guys. Again, great body language, great determination all throughout the fourth. And guys have put us in a great spot. And this one's particularly nice because we did it without big fella. So that was also huge for us."

Two nights earlier, Memphis closed a 111-108 win over the Golden State Warriors with 17 straight points over the final 3:47.

The Grizzlies listed Zach Edey as out with left ankle injury management for the first game of a road back-to-back. He had played in both of the first two games.

Karim López sat with a right knee bone bruise.

Stewart made his first start for Memphis, which acquired him from Detroit on June 24. He finished with 13 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks in 22 minutes and was called for 5 fouls.

All five Memphis starters scored in double figures.

Wells had 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting, plus 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals. Boozer posted 16 points, 11 rebounds, and 4 assists while shooting 6-of-21.

Coward, back from the left wrist sprain that sidelined him at Golden State, posted 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Off the bench, Cam Spencer scored 13 and went 3-of-6 from 3-point range.

Sacramento led 28-25 after one quarter, with Sabonis putting up 10 points and 8 rebounds in those 12 minutes.

Memphis answered with 42 points in the second. The Grizzlies went 7-of-14 from deep and 11-of-12 at the line in that quarter.

Jerome's second free throw with 9:59 left in the half put Memphis ahead 34-33, and it did not trail again.

Spencer hit 3-pointers at 5:31 and 5:00. The Grizzlies led 67-59 at halftime.

Jerome's three-point play at 7:57 of the third made it 83-69.

Precious Achiuwa scored 8 points in that quarter, and his driving layup at 3:09 cut the deficit to 87-84.

LaVine finished with 37 points on 13-of-25 shooting, with 8-of-8 free throws and 5 assists.

Acuff, a rookie, scored 22 on 9-of-23 and had 7 assists. Sabonis ended with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Achiuwa had 12 points and 10 rebounds and missed all 6 of his free throws.

Sacramento shot 14-of-22 from the line. Memphis went 24-of-27.

Memphis outrebounded the Kings 54-44 and outscored them 30-21 in second-chance points.

In the fourth quarter, Sacramento shot 1-of-9 from 3-point range.

Attendance was 13,076.

Memphis plays the Utah Jazz on Monday in Salt Lake City, with tip-off at 8 p.m. CT.

The Grizzlies beat Utah 123-103 in Wednesday's opener at FedExForum, when Jerome scored a career-high 45 points.

After a Thursday game in Portland, Memphis hosts Sacramento on Oct. 31.