Memphis Grizzlies at Utah Jazz
Monday, October 26, 2026
9:00 PM ET, Delta Center
The Jazz are 1.5-point favorites over the Grizzlies with a total of 238.5, and my play is Grizzlies +1.5 (-110).
Ty Jerome has 104 points in three games. This is a guy who was limited to 15 games last season by injuries, and he’s the reason Memphis is 3-0 for only the third time in franchise history and off to its best start since 2017-18. Five days ago he dropped a career-high 45 on this exact Utah team. The market looked at that and made the Jazz the favorite anyway.
We’ve already seen this movie. Memphis beat Utah 123-103 on opening night, and it wasn’t a fluke shooting night that decided it. The Grizzlies won the glass by 17 and lived in the paint and in the open floor. Utah also coughed it up 18 times, and that’s not a one-off. The Jazz have turned it over at least 17 times in all three of their games. Hand a team that runs like Memphis that many extra trips and you’re going to be chasing all night.
One defense is real, and one is a welcome mat. Through the first week, Memphis allows 104.5 points per 100 possessions, ninth in the league, per TeamRankings. Utah allows 118.9, which ranks 28th. The Grizzlies also have the better offense by that same measure, a top-five unit against a Jazz attack sitting around the middle of the pack. Early numbers bounce around, sure. But Memphis is better on both ends, and that’s a weird thing to get points for.
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Both teams are tired, and only one of them lost yesterday. This is the second night of a back-to-back for both clubs. Memphis has it tougher on travel, since it beat the Kings in Sacramento on Sunday night and had to fly in after. Utah slept in its own beds after a 5 PM ET tip, but it also got its heart ripped out. The Jazz scored 47 in the first quarter, built an 18-point lead and still lost 132-123 to the Lakers after Luka Doncic went for 52. Will Hardy liked a lot of it, saying “I think our offense has taken a step forward.” That’s fair. Getting punched in the mouth by a 52-point game and coming back 24 hours later against a team that beat you by 20 is a different problem.
Memphis also has a reason to believe its legs will hold up. It held Zach Edey out of the Sacramento game on purpose, for left ankle management, so he could play the second night. Edey was a +25 in 22 minutes in the win at Golden State. If he’s out there, Memphis owns the glass again. Even without him, Isaiah Stewart started Sunday and the Grizzlies still won by 11.
Jerome’s confidence is the whole vibe. “The shape he showed up to camp in, he has put in a hell of a lot of hard work last spring and this summer,” coach Tuomas Iisalo said. “The confidence he is playing with is incredible.” Jerome isn’t going to average 35 all year. He doesn’t need to. He needs to beat a Utah backcourt that couldn’t stay in front of him on opening night.
How this goes sideways
The flight is real. Memphis played a 9 PM ET game in California and has to tip at altitude the next night. No. 3 pick Cameron Boozer is 14-of-49 from the field so far, and a tired 19-year-old doesn’t usually find his jumper on a back-to-back. Utah also crushed the offensive glass against the Lakers, with 20 offensive rebounds that turned into 34 second-chance points. If Edey sits again, that becomes a real problem. Jaren Jackson Jr. gets his first look at his old team in his new building too, and he’s scored 20-plus twice already. Edey’s status and both teams’ official injury reports were not filed as of early Monday morning, so check before tip. I’d play Memphis at a pick’em or better, and I’d take the moneyline near even money if the points vanish.
My number: Grizzlies 120, Jazz 115
The Pick: Grizzlies +1.5 (-110)
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