Grizzlies rookie Cameron Boozer becomes second-youngest player in NBA history to record triple-double

Heading into the Memphis Grizzlies’ matchup with the Portland Trail Blazers on Thursday, the primary focus was the past — namely, the Grizzlies’ first meeting with former franchise superstar Ja Morant, after trading the one-time cornerstone point guard to Portland over the summer. Coming out of the contest, though, the conversation centered on the future — and on the teenage phenom who might make it look awfully bright in Memphis, sooner rather than later.

The book on Cameron Boozer coming out of Duke was that he was a high-floor player who could do a little bit of everything well — someone who might not have quite the superstar ceiling of prospective dominant wing scorers like AJ Dybantsa and Darryn Peterson, but who seemed likely to walk into the NBA as someone capable of contributing to winning right away. He’d shown that through the season’s first four games, playing a strong all-around floor game in starter’s minutes at the power forward position for a pleasant surprise of a Grizzlies team that won its first four games; Memphis has turned the ball over less, grabbed a higher share of available offensive and defensive rebounds, and sent opponents to the foul line less frequently with Boozer on the floor.

Advertisement

But even though Memphis was winning his minutes, Boozer had come out of the chute struggling with his shot, going just 11-for-35 from inside the 3-point arc and 7-for-26 beyond it in those first four games — a difficult acclimation to the highest level of the game.

“I would just say I felt a little bit out of rhythm,” Boozer said of his play to start the season. “Obviously, coming away with the win is the biggest thing. For me, I was impacting winning in all those games, but I wanted to play better.”

On Thursday, he did just that:

Boozer was brilliant in Portland, going 6-for-10 from the field and 4-for-5 from 3-point land en route to 18 points in the Grizzlies’ 124-103 win over the previously undefeated Blazers. The rookie added 12 rebounds and 12 assists in just 28 minutes of work, notching the first triple-double of his NBA career in just his fifth professional game.

Advertisement

“It…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nba/article/grizzlies-rookie-cameron-boozer-becomes-second-youngest-player-in-nba-history-to-record-triple-double-142912407.html

Author : Dan Devine

Publish date : 2026-10-30 14:29:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.