Rookie Cameron Boozer recorded 18 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists for his first career triple-double as the Memphis Grizzlies remained unbeaten with a 124-103 road victory over the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday night.
A second-half takeover
Memphis outscored Portland 66-45 in the second half to turn a close game into a comfortable win. Reserve Isaiah Stewart posted 18 points and Cedric Coward registered 17 points, seven rebounds and three steals as the Grizzlies improved to 5-0. Memphis and the Houston Rockets are now the last two unbeaten teams in the league, after Memphis handed Portland its first loss of the season.
Deni Avdija had 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to pace the Trail Blazers, but Portland could not keep up once Memphis tightened up defensively after half-time. Portland’s Ja Morant had 14 points and three assists in 23 minutes before departing in the fourth quarter due to a left hamstring injury — an injury to watch for a Blazers side that had started the season unbeaten.
Why Boozer’s night matters
Triple-doubles from rookies are rare enough; doing it while steering an unbeaten team on the road is rarer still. Boozer’s line was balanced rather than volume-driven — 18 points on efficient scoring, 12 boards, 12 assists — the kind of all-round game that lets a team win even when its shots are not falling early. The second-half surge, with Stewart and Coward contributing off the bench, underlined the depth that has carried Memphis to 5-0.
The early-season standings can mislead — five games is a small sample, and the Rockets’ matching unbeaten start means Memphis has company at the top. But unbeaten runs this deep into a season, built on defence and bench production rather than one star’s scoring, tend to say something real about a team. The question for Memphis now is whether the formula survives the first injury or shooting slump.
Around the league
Elsewhere on Thursday, the Atlanta Hawks snapped a three-game losing streak by beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-111 at home. Onyeka Okongwu scored a season-high 29 points, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker sank two crucial free throws with 15.3 seconds remaining. Alexander-Walker finished with 25 points, while Aaron Wiggins added a season-high 20 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Cleveland, whose three-game winning streak ended, got a season-high 24 points from James Harden. Donovan Mitchell scored 22 but missed two potential tying three-point attempts in the final seconds.
In New Orleans, the Pelicans broke into the win column for the first time this season, beating the Sacramento Kings 132-120. Jeremiah Fears flirted with his first career triple-double and, with Zion Williamson, scored 22 points each for New Orleans, which was playing 24 hours after a fourth straight season-opening defeat. Rookie Darius Acuff Jr. poured in a season-best 34 points for Sacramento, the first team in the league to lose five games this season.
What to watch next
Watch Morant’s hamstring update, whether Memphis can extend its perfect start against its next opponent, and whether Houston keeps pace — the race for the league’s last unbeaten record rarely lasts long, and Thursday’s results set up a weekend where one of the two could blink first.
Sources: Reuters (NBA roundup, October 30, 2026); Field Level Media.
