Cameron Boozer and the Memphis Grizzlies know there's still a long, long way to go before any talk of the playoffs should begin.
They've played five games. There are 77 games left. The season is just starting.
But so far, so good. Very good, in fact. The Grizzlies are perhaps the surprise of the NBA at 5-0, tied with Houston for the league's best record entering Friday's games — and if history is to be believed, Memphis' start may indeed be a sign of what's to come.
Of the previous 85 teams to start a season 5-0, a staggering 93% went on to make the playoffs — with 79 teams getting there and only six teams not qualifying.
“It’s a great feeling,” Boozer said in the televised post-game interview after Memphis topped Portland — and former Grizzlies guard Ja Morant — on Thursday night to move to 5-0 and cap a 4-0 road trip. “Obviously last year was rough. I wasn’t here, but to start the season 5-0, it’s a lot of fun to do this right.”
A year ago, Boozer was just starting his one-and-done season at Duke. The year before that, he was starring at Miami's Christopher Columbus High.
Now, he's the second-youngest player in NBA history with a triple double.
Boozer's line in the win over Portland: 18 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists. Josh Giddey was 19 years, 84 days old when he had his first triple-double, and Boozer's first one came at 19 years, 103 days.
Boozer also became the fifth player in NBA history to have a known triple-double within the first five games of his career, joining Ben Simmons, Magic Johnson, Art Williams and Oscar Robertson — who did it four times in his first five NBA appearances.
“It took him long enough,” Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo deadpanned after the game, in comments published by The Daily Memphian.
Hey, the Grizzlies should be in a joke-telling mood these days.
They won five of their final 33 games last season; they're 5-for-5 this season going into a Saturday game at Sacramento. They're on the brink of matching the best start — 6-0 — in franchise history. They're on a five-game winning streak for the first time since January 2025.
Ty Jerome is averaging 25.8 points, tied for ninth-best in the league entering Friday. Boozer is sixth in rebounds per game and in the top 25 for assists per game. The Grizzlies are shooting 40% from 3-point range — only the unbeaten Rockets, at 40.4%, were better going into Friday's play.
And above all else, there's hope.
“We're going to keep competing,” Boozer said. “Keep winning games and just give our fans something to root for.”
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