Ty Jerome explodes for career-high 45 points, sets Grizzlies opening-night record in win over Jazz

There was plenty to talk about heading into Wednesday’s season opener between the Memphis Grizzlies and Utah Jazz, from the Grizzlies’ planned tribute to the late Brandon Clarke, to longtime franchise linchpin Jaren Jackson Jr. making his return to FedExForum after being traded to Salt Lake City back in February, to the NBA debuts of the second and third picks in June’s 2026 NBA Draft: Utah’s Darryn Peterson and Memphis’ Cameron Boozer.

Coming out of Wednesday night, though, there was really only one thing everybody was talking about:

Holy crap, you guys: Ty Jerome.

The eighth-year guard out of Virginia absolutely incinerated Utah in his first game of the 2026-27 NBA season, scoring a career-high 45 points in just under 32 minutes to pace Memphis to a 123-103 blowout victory over the visiting Jazz. He also added six assists that generated an additional 14 points and pulled down seven rebounds as the Grizz got on the board with a 20-point win — something they did just four times all of last season.

Jerome torched Will Hardy’s defense in the pick-and-roll all night long, punishing the Jazz at all three levels en route to finishing a pristine 17-for-25 from the field, 5-for-10 from 3-point land and 6-for-7 from the foul line. He displayed remarkable shot-making touch in the paint, especially on floaters and runners lofted from around the foul line. He was also nails when pulling up from beyond the arc, including a 33-foot bomb heaved from the edge of the Grizzlies’ half-court logo in the fourth quarter.

It was a jaw-dropping coming-out party for Jerome, who had only ever cracked the 30-point plateau once in 253 career NBA games before Wednesday’s explosion. His 45-point performance set a new Grizzlies franchise record for the highest-scoring season opener, topping the 44 that Ja Morant scored to kick off the 2020-21 campaign; only Morant and Desmond Bane have ever scored more points in a Grizzlies uniform than Jerome did on Wednesday night.

And that actually kind of undersells the historic nature of his outing. Jerome is now one of 134 players in the history of the NBA to score 45 points, grab five rebounds and dish five assists in a single game, and one of 59 to do it while making at least 65% of his shots — a list featuring 25 players already enshrined in the Hall of Fame, and at least another dozen who will be as soon as they’re eligible. He’s also one of just six players ever to go for 45-5-5 in the first game of his team’s season, joining World B. Free, Michael Jordan, Anthony Davis, Kyrie Irving and Jaylen Brown.

On one hand, it seems bonkers to see Jerome sharing Stathead space with some of the most prolific scorers of their respective eras. He is, after all, a journeyman guard who has played for five teams since coming off the board with the 24th pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, struggling to establish himself and stick in any one place as he battled a frustrating array of injuries over the course of his first seven seasons. Last season, his first in Memphis, Jerome logged just 339 minutes across 15 games thanks in large part to a persistent right calf strain.

On the other, though … when Jerome has been on the court, he has been good. Often really good. During his healthiest season — 2024-25, when he played 70 games and nearly 1,400 minutes in Cleveland — Jerome broke out as an instant-offense maestro whose scoring and playmaking off the bench helped fuel the Cavaliers to a remarkable 64-win season that few saw coming.

That breakout turn earned Jerome a third-place finish in Sixth Man of the Year voting, and a three-year, $28 million contract with the Grizzlies. After returning to the floor in late January following the calf strain, Jerome was one of the most productive players in the entire NBA on a per-minute basis, averaging 19.7 points, 5.7 assists and 2.8 rebounds in just 22.7 minutes per game, while shooting 52% on 2-pointers, 42% on 3-pointers and 88% from the foul line. He did it cleanly, too, posting a 3.2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, and while contributing to the chaos on the defensive end, snagging a steal on more than 2% of opponents’ offensive possessions and coming away with a block on more than 1% of their trips.

The Grizzlies scored 8.3 more points per 100 possessions with Jerome on the floor than off it last season, according to Cleaning the Glass — the largest offensive on/off split on the team, and one of the largest of any player in the league. The combination of high-volume scoring, high-efficiency shooting despite a sky-high usage rate and consistent turnover avoidance made Jerome something of an analytics marvel in his late-season surge. Among players who logged at least 300 minutes, Jerome finished seventh in the NBA in estimated plus-minus and box plus-minus, eighth in player efficiency rating, and either in or just outside the top 25 in win shares per 48 minutes, ESPN’s net points added per 100 possessions, and The BBall Index’s LEBRON.

Basing any conclusion on a player’s merits on just over 300 minutes of ball isn’t exactly sound science. But Grizzlies head coach Tuomas Iisalo seems plenty willing to continue this particular experiment.

“We’ll add it to the sample size, for sure,” a smiling Iiaslo told reporters after the win.

All of which is to say: As surprising as it seems, Ty Jerome suddenly flame-broiling an NBA defense to the tune of 45 points on an 80.7% true shooting percentage … might not actually be all that surprising?

"He pretty much can score on anybody, any day, on any possession, out of any situation," teammate GG Jackson told reporters during Grizzlies training camp.

If you don’t believe Jackson, just ask the Jazz. Or, for that matter, the Grizzlies fans who serenaded Jerome with “MVP” chants as the magical night wore on:

“I mean, it’s fun, right?” Jerome said when asked by Grizzlies sideline reporter Rob Fischer what it’s like to be in the kind of flow he found on Wednesday. “That’s what you work so hard [for], trying to get in those zones. And when it comes, you know, it’s a good night.”