Grizzlies pull away from depleted Raptors 118-102 to end skid
A 12-0 third-quarter run and a 44-27 bench edge snapped Memphis's three-game losing streak against a Toronto side missing four rotation players.
Memphis needed a night like this. The Grizzlies beat the Toronto Raptors 118-102 at Scotiabank Arena on Monday, snapping a three-game losing streak that had included a 31-point NBA Cup defeat to Oklahoma City, per Yahoo Sports.
A game of two halves — then one team
The first half was a genuine contest: 13 lead changes and seven ties, with Memphis taking a 59-53 edge into the break. After that, Toronto never led again. The Grizzlies opened the third quarter on a 12-0 run that stretched the lead to 16, and every Raptors push was answered.
Ty Jerome led the way with 27 points, including 10 in that decisive third quarter, while rookie Cameron Boozer — the No. 3 overall pick — added 22 points and eight assists, doing nearly all his damage inside the arc. Toronto-born Zach Edey chipped in 8 points and 9 rebounds in front of his hometown crowd, and the Memphis bench outscored Toronto's reserves 44-27, with Jerami Grant scoring 17 on 6-of-9 shooting.
Toronto running on fumes
The Raptors, now 5-5, were badly short-handed, per Yahoo News Canada: Kawhi Leonard (knee) missed an eighth straight game, Scottie Barnes (adductor) and Immanuel Quickley (hamstring) sat for a second, and Collin Murray-Boyles was out ill. Jakob Poeltl scored 18 and Toronto won the paint battle 50-42, but the Raptors managed zero fast-break points and missed their first six three-point attempts.
What it means
For Memphis, this was a reset — coach Tuomas Iisalo's young rotation rediscovered its identity behind its bench depth, and the Grizzlies host Denver on Wednesday with some momentum restored. For Toronto, the schedule offers no mercy: Boston visits Wednesday before a back-to-back in Philadelphia, and the health report will matter more than anything that happened in this game.