LaVine Scored 37. Memphis Needed Eight Straight Points to Close Sacramento Out.

Ty Jerome scored 31, went a perfect 14-for-14 from the free-throw line and kept Memphis unbeaten with a 123–112 win in Sacramento. The Kings got 37 from Zach LaVine and erased an eleven-point second-quarter deficit, even tying the game late in the fourth. The Grizzlies still had a response. What interests me isn't just Jerome's scoring average or another 3–0 graphic. It's the way Memphis created answers after the game was tied at 106, while Sacramento turned a real comeback opportunity into another loss.

Seven Memphis shooters made threes before halftime

Memphis trailed 28–25 after one quarter, then won the second 42–31 to lead 67–59 at halftime. Cam Spencer hit back-to-back threes during a run that put the Grizzlies ahead 54–44. Seven different Memphis players made a three before the break, which tells you why Sacramento couldn't turn this into a simple plan to stop one shooter. Even when Jerome had the ball, defenders couldn't abandon everybody else and expect to get away with it.

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The Kings did the hard part of catching up

The third quarter didn't decide everything. Sacramento outscored Memphis 31–29 and entered the fourth down six. LaVine was scoring, rookie Darius Acuff Jr. was supplying needed support with 22 points, and Domantas Sabonis kept battling inside. The Kings had reasons to believe they could grab their first victory of the season. They didn't disappear after falling behind, which makes the final outcome more frustrating rather than more excusable.

With 5:41 remaining, Sabonis finished a three-point play to tie the contest 106–106. That was the opening Sacramento worked for. Memphis immediately answered through an Isaiah Stewart three-point play, a Cedric Coward basket and a Jerome three. Three different contributors, eight unanswered points, and the game changed direction before the Kings could turn the tied score into an actual lead. That is a small sequence with a large lesson: if your opponent can find a good decision on every pressure possession, an impressive rally can vanish in less than two minutes.

Fourteen perfect free throws kept the offense steady

Jerome wasn't only collecting free throws. He made eight of seventeen shots and added six assists, becoming the driver of an offense that trusted more than one finisher. The free throws were critical: Memphis finished 24-for-27 at the line, compared with Sacramento's 14-for-22. Ten more made foul shots made up most of an eleven-point final margin. A team can spend an entire week working on late-game sets; it cannot afford to treat routine points at the stripe as optional.

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Memphis had help, Sacramento had scoring

Rookie Cameron Boozer was active on the glass and contributed a double-double, and Cedric Coward delivered fifteen points and eleven rebounds. Jaylen Wells scored sixteen, and Spencer made important threes during the second-quarter surge. Zach Edey was unavailable because of ankle injury management, so the work of the smaller frontcourt rotation mattered. Memphis was not one Jerome performance surrounded by spectators. It kept getting useful minutes from people filling different roles.

Sacramento's position deserves its own scrutiny. LaVine produced a 37-point night, Acuff scored 22, and Sabonis supplied fifteen rebounds. That is more than enough individual talent to make a home game competitive. But the Kings still fell to 0–3, and Keegan Murray's absence with an illness narrowed their options. They shot just ten-for-thirty-three from three and missed eight free throws. Neither statistic guarantees a loss by itself. Together with the late eight-point Memphis burst, they explain why Sacramento's push couldn't become control.

The Grizzlies' film study should focus on those eight consecutive points, not just Jerome's 31. Stewart offered contact and finishing, Coward converted the next chance, and Jerome stepped into the shot that opened real separation. Different players answered the same pressure. Sacramento had worked too hard to tie it for that stretch to be acceptable. The Kings needed one defensive stop after 106–106, and they couldn't find it until the game was moving away again.

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6IX TAKE — the eight-point answer was the real performance

6IX TAKE — Jerome is giving Memphis a beautiful early-season problem: the guy everybody expected to be a helpful scorer is forcing defenses to treat him like the main event. Thirty-one points and fourteen perfect free throws is real production. But the part that sold me was what happened when the Kings finally tied it. A Stewart three-point play, a Coward bucket, then a Jerome three. Memphis didn't freeze, didn't hold the ball hoping for a bailout, and didn't pretend only one player was allowed to score. Sacramento keeps getting talented individual performances without creating the control that turns those nights into wins. LaVine's thirty-seven shouldn't be wasted just because the Kings weren't organized for the final six minutes. Yes, Memphis got to the line more effectively. Yes, Keegan Murray's absence mattered. Neither point should hide the fact that the Grizzlies made better choices when the game was most uncomfortable. That's what a promising start actually looks like. It's not the undefeated record; it's the poise when the easy version of the game disappears.

How the records translate to the next opponent

Memphis improved to 3–0 while Sacramento remained winless after three games. The schedule quickly offered more chances to test whether this composure was repeatable. The Grizzlies had a road game at Utah the following night, so their shooting and late-game decisions would immediately face another challenge. The Kings' assignment was simpler and more urgent: stop treating a comeback as a success if the last five minutes still belong entirely to the other team.