Cam Boozer delivers a triple-double against Ja Morant's new team. Onyeka Okongwu rescues Atlanta. Jeremiah Fears gives New Orleans its first win. Three games, three statements — and the details behind every final.
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2026 · ALL 3 GAMES FINAL · ORIGINAL 4DK ANALYSIS
4DK / PLAYER OF THE NIGHT
CAM BOOZER. THE COMPLETE GAME.
18 POINTS · 12 REBOUNDS · 12 ASSISTS · FIRST NBA TRIPLE-DOUBLE · MEMPHIS 5–0
Some rookie nights announce scoring talent. Cameron Boozer announced command. His first NBA triple-double came in a game loaded with personal history for the opponent: Ja Morant's first meeting with Memphis since the trade that sent him to Portland. Boozer refused to let the occasion become somebody else's story. He scored, rebounded and connected teammates, and the Grizzlies ran away in the second half. At 5–0, Memphis has more than a hot hand to build around — it has a rookie already influencing the structure of winning basketball.
We gave Boozer the edge because 12 assists from a forward are not decoration. They reflect decisions that keep the offense moving even when Ty Jerome doesn't have a big shooting night. Isaiah Stewart's 18 off the bench and Cedric Coward's 17 fit around that approach. This was a team win with a rookie directing much of its rhythm.
Also on the 4DK podium: Onyeka Okongwu's 29 points and 12 rebounds, including the late putback that protected Atlanta's lead; Jeremiah Fears' 22 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds and four blocks in New Orleans' first victory; and Darius Acuff Jr.'s 34-point, 14-assist performance despite Sacramento's loss.
Atlanta's night started like another argument against its own consistency. Cleveland came in on a three-game winning streak, immediately pushed the Hawks backward and built a 15-point first-half advantage. Atlanta scored just 16 in the opening quarter. Against a Cavaliers team with Donovan Mitchell and James Harden capable of controlling tempo, that kind of start can turn into a long evening. Instead, the Hawks flipped the game by changing who got to dictate the possessions. Their 19–2 second-quarter surge turned a 35–24 deficit into a 43–37 lead, and the defensive pressure that fueled the run gave Atlanta a foundation its opening quarter had lacked.
The most important difference was Onyeka Okongwu's offensive versatility. This was not a center living on uncontested dunks. He finished with 29 on 11-of-17 shooting and hit four of six threes, forcing Cleveland to account for him both in the paint and beyond the arc. When a big can pull a defender away from the basket and still finish through traffic, he changes the geometry of every possession. Nickeil Alexander-Walker's 25 points gave Atlanta a second reliable scoring source, while Aaron Wiggins' 20 off the bench helped the Hawks survive stretches when the starters needed support. Jalen Johnson's 17 points, eight rebounds and seven assists supplied the connective play that doesn't always lead a highlight package.
Atlanta scored 43 in the third quarter and entered the fourth ahead 89–82. But the Cavs refused to fold. Harden finished with 24; Mitchell added 22, though his one-for-nine shooting from deep showed how difficult the Hawks made his perimeter night. Cleveland got back within a point in the final minute, and the difference came on a possession that should matter to every team watching Atlanta: after a missed three, Okongwu chased down the offensive rebound and scored with 28.2 seconds left to make it 112–109. Mitchell answered at the rim. Alexander-Walker made two free throws. Cleveland still had chances to tie, but Mitchell missed both late three-point attempts. It was not a flawless close, but it was a close built on second-effort work and execution at the line.
We are not calling Atlanta fixed because it survived one narrow finish. Four consecutive games with a deficit of at least 15 points is a warning about its opening intensity. What matters is that the Hawks answered with more than hot shooting: they won the rebounding battle, moved the ball and got a center to make the most important play of the game. Cleveland can point to its resilience, but 13 makes in 42 three-point attempts and the inability to secure that final defensive rebound left a winnable game on the table. The Cavaliers have enough offensive talent to erase mistakes; the next step is preventing them from becoming necessary.
TURNING POINT — Atlanta's 19–2 second-quarter run erased a 35–24 deficit; Okongwu's putback with 28.2 seconds remaining protected a three-point lead.
4DK OUTLOOK — Atlanta snaps a three-game slide but must stop digging early holes. Cleveland's three-game win streak ends, with late rebounding and perimeter efficiency the film-room priorities.
There is a difference between having a young guard who can score and having one who can organize the whole floor. Jeremiah Fears gave New Orleans a glimpse of the second possibility. With Jordan Poole unavailable because of an ankle issue and Dejounte Murray away for the birth of his child, the Pelicans needed a backcourt answer. Fears produced 22 points, 13 assists, eight rebounds and four blocks. Those are not empty numbers in a game decided by ball pressure, transition decisions and who could keep the offense moving through the third quarter. Fears didn't have to monopolize the ball to be the story; he made the players around him easier to use.
That included Zion Williamson, who delivered 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting. The Pelicans got the version of Zion that forces the defense to make a choice: commit extra bodies to the paint or surrender direct drives and finishes. Trey Murphy III added 19, and New Orleans' reserves outscored Sacramento's bench 41–8. That bench disparity is one of the night's loudest numbers. It meant the Pelicans could sustain their pace while Sacramento leaned on its starters. The Pelicans shot 59.5 percent from the floor and turned the Kings' 25 turnovers into 40 points. Those extra chances, not a late miracle, created the margin.
The game was competitive into the second quarter. Murphy's free throws gave New Orleans a 55–54 lead with 1:45 before halftime, and the Pelicans never trailed again. After a 63–61 halftime edge, they poured in 39 third-quarter points, including a 16–2 surge that broke the game open. The contrast was stark: Sacramento was good enough to score 120 and shoot better than 52 percent, yet its own possessions kept becoming opportunities for the other team. New Orleans' 18 steals underscored how often the Kings put themselves in recovery mode.
None of this should bury what Darius Acuff Jr. did. The rookie guard delivered 34 points and 14 assists, one of the best individual performances of the young season, and showed the scoring-and-creation combination that can make him a central piece in Sacramento. De'Andre Hunter and Precious Achiuwa each scored 24, while Domantas Sabonis grabbed 15 rebounds. But Sabonis also committed seven turnovers, and the Kings' 0–5 start is now about more than bad shooting luck. A team cannot consistently win when it gives away 25 possessions and gets only eight points from its bench. Acuff's ceiling is encouraging; the structure around him has to improve fast.
For New Orleans, we want to see whether this game becomes a template rather than a one-night correction. Fears' playmaking, Zion's interior efficiency and Murphy's spacing can work together, but the Pelicans must show they can reproduce the balance against teams that protect the ball. For Sacramento, the most urgent issue is discipline: entry passes, transition decisions, and a rotation that can hold its own when Acuff sits. The scoreboard says the Pelicans finally won. The film says why.
TURNING POINT — New Orleans led 63–61 at halftime, then used a 16–2 third-quarter surge to seize control. Sacramento finished with 25 turnovers; the Pelicans scored 40 points off them.
4DK OUTLOOK — Fears' 22/8/13 with four blocks is a legitimate early-season building block for 1–4 New Orleans. Acuff's 34/14 is a bright spot, but 0–5 Sacramento must address its turnover and bench problems.
It would have been easy to write this as the Ja Morant revenge game. Portland entered unbeaten, Morant was facing the franchise he once carried, and the atmosphere offered all the emotional material a basketball night could need. Memphis had another idea. The Grizzlies played the second half like a team more interested in confirming its identity than participating in somebody else's storyline. Cameron Boozer authored the first triple-double of his NBA career — 18 points, 12 rebounds, 12 assists — and the Grizzlies left Portland with a 124–103 victory and a 5–0 record.
That stat line matters because it came without a one-man scoring takeover. Boozer read the floor, moved the ball into better spots and made it easier for a deep rotation to attack. Isaiah Stewart scored 18 off the bench, Cedric Coward added 17, and Zach Edey supplied 13. Ty Jerome, the early-season scoring sensation, finished with 10 on three-for-12 shooting. The Grizzlies still won by 21. That's the clearest evidence of how much this team's ceiling depends on more than one guard getting hot. Seven other Memphis players reached double figures, and the scoring distribution made Portland chase too many different threats.
The first half was tied 58–58. Then Memphis imposed the kind of sustained pressure that can make a close game look one-sided in the final box score. A 10–0 third-quarter burst turned a two-point advantage into a 12-point cushion, and Memphis won the second half 66–45. Portland was unable to create enough clean looks to answer. The Blazers hit only 12 of 49 three-point attempts, while Memphis shot better than 42 percent from deep. The Grizzlies also got transition opportunities from Portland mistakes and kept attacking the paint. A game that had been evenly matched at the break became a referendum on which team could execute when the defense tightened.
Deni Avdija carried much of Portland's offense with 24 points, nine rebounds and seven assists. But Damian Lillard managed nine points on three-for-13 shooting, and the backcourt could not find a consistent second-half rhythm. Morant scored 14 with three assists in 23 minutes before exiting in the fourth with a left hamstring injury. We are not assigning a recovery timetable without medical confirmation, but his status now becomes an immediate issue for a Portland team whose new guard rotation was one of the season's most interesting experiments. His reunion with Memphis ended with an injury concern and a loss, not the statement performance the setting seemed built to invite.
For Memphis, the bigger story is sustainability. A 5–0 opening does not make the Grizzlies a finished contender, but a forward who can deliver a triple-double, a deep bench and an offense that survives Jerome's off night give them several paths to win. For Portland, the loss is useful evidence. Three early victories showed what its talent can produce; this game showed what happens when perimeter shots stop falling and possessions get sloppy. The Blazers have to protect the ball, manufacture easier offense and evaluate Morant's hamstring before the next test. Memphis did not merely end Portland's perfect start. It exposed the difference between an exciting start and a system already winning in multiple ways.
TURNING POINT — The teams were tied 58–58 at halftime; Memphis outscored Portland 66–45 after the break, including a 10–0 third-quarter run.
4DK OUTLOOK — Memphis moves to 5–0 behind Boozer's all-around impact and roster depth. Portland falls to 3–1; Morant's hamstring status and its 12-for-49 three-point night are the immediate concerns.