Ty Jerome' s career-high 45 points leads Grizzlies to a 123-103 victory over Jazz

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Ty Jerome scored a career-high 45 points as the Memphis Grizzlies used a third-quarter rally enroute to a 123-103 victory over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night in the season opener for both teams.

The game featured two of the top rookies in the current class: Utah picked Darryn Peterson of Kansas No. 2 overall right before Memphis selected Cam Boozer from Duke. Peterson had nine points; Boozer finished 11 rebounds, seven points and five assists but was 2-of-15 shooting, 0 for 6 from 3-point range.

Jerome connected on 17 of 25 shots including 5 of 10 from 3-point range. The 45 points were the most by a Memphis player in an season-opener, eclipsing the 44 by Ja Morant in 2020.

Jerami Grant, obtained in an offseason trade with Portland that sent Morant to the Trail Blazers, scored 15, Jaylen Wells and GG Jackson scored 12 each.

Keyonte George led the Jazz with 22 points Lauri Markkanen added 18 points. Jaren Jackson Jr. made his return to the FedExForum court after eight seasons with the Grizzlies and scored 15 points before fouling out in the fourth. Jackson was traded to Utah at last February’s deadline.

Jaxson Hayes had a career-high six blocks for Utah.

Memphis led by as many as 15 in the first half, carrying a 64-51 advantage into the break. The Grizzlies used an 18-4 run opening the third to stretch their lead to 82-55.

Memphis led by as many as 27 points and the Jazz trailed by at least 15 points throughout the fourth quarter.

Jazz: Host New Orleans on Friday.

Grizzlies: Play Friday at Golden State.

See AP’s full NBA coverage here

Memphis Grizzlies forward Jerami Grant (3) drives against Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (8) in the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Memphis Grizzlies forward Cameron Boozer (27) and Utah Jazz center Jaxson Hayes (11) struggle for control of the ball in the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Utah Jazz forward/center Lauri Markkanen (23) shoots against guard Jahmai Mashack, left, in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Utah Jazz guard Darryn Peterson (22) handles the ball ahead of Memphis Grizzlies forward Jaylen Wells in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

Memphis Grizzlies center Zach Edey (14) grabs a rebound ahead of, from left, guard Jahmai Mashack, Utah Jazz forward Jaren Jackson Jr., and center Jaxson Hayes in the first half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2026, in Memphis, Tenn. (AP Photo/Brandon Dill)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A man has been charged with threatening an Australian lawmaker’s staff with nunchucks, police said Thursday, days after another legislator was critically injured when a man repeatedly hit her with a car.

The incidents are heightening concerns about female politicians’ safety and raising concerns about security in a country where lawmakers are highly accessible to the public.

Police say that a 56-year-old man entered Western Australian state government minister Hannah Beazley’s electorate office in suburban Perth on Wednesday, brandishing nunchucks and making verbal threats. Beazley wasn't in the office at the time.

Nunchucks are a weapon used in martial arts consisting of two sticks or rods connected by a rope or chain.

The man was detained and charged with being armed in a way that may cause fear and with threatening to perform an unlawful act. He spent the night in police custody and will appear in a Perth court later Thursday, police said.

There was no allegation the man’s behavior was connected to the driver who hit federal lawmaker Helen Haines with his car in the east coast state of Victoria on Monday.

Haines' alleged attacker, Brendan Nugent, appeared in a court on Wednesday charged with intentionally causing serious injury, dangerous driving causing serious injury and causing harm to a federal official. He did not enter pleas and remains in custody.

Police are still searching for a motive.

Haines, a 65-year-old independent lawmaker, remained in critical condition on Thursday in a Melbourne hospital where surgeons have amputated both her legs, a health department statement said.

Both the Haines and Beazley incidents have raised concerns about the safety of female politicians, who account for a growing proportion of lawmakers in Australian parliaments.

Just under 50% of federal lawmakers and a majority of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Cabinet are women.

Australian lawmakers are some of the most accessible in the world and political violence has traditionally been rare. But there are fears that increasingly toxic public debate driven by social media creates additional risks for elected women.

Albanese said the fact that the threat to Beazley came so soon after the alleged attack on Haines was “just heartbreaking.” Beazley is the daughter of Albanese's former federal colleague, Kim Beazley.

“We can have debate and disagreement, but do it in a way without descending into the sort of violence that we have seen in too many parts of the world,” Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp. “It’s certainly not who we are as Australians.”

Albanese attended an online security briefing this week for women lawmakers in his center-left Labor Party. Security agencies addressed misogynistic threats directed at them.

Male and female federal lawmakers agree that women are facing the worst of the online abuse.

“Of course people are concerned. They’re anxious,” Albanese said. “There has been a normalization of behavior that can be very aggressive in a way that wasn’t happening a couple of decades ago.”

Hannah Beazley said she was in the state parliament when the man entered her electorate office demanding to see her.

Beazley said two members of her staff had been “rattled,” but had remained safe behind a security screen.

“We don't know his motives at all,” she told reporters on Wednesday.

Governor-General Sam Mostyn, who is only the second woman to ever serve as the British monarch’s representative in Australia, said that she was abused on social media for speaking at a press conference on Wednesday alongside Haines’ husband Phil Haines.

“Like any woman who has stepped up into any position across any part of our society, there is a unique and pernicious form of attack that comes our way,” Mostyn told ABC.

“Women across the country know that there are certain things that are reserved for women in that attack that go to our gender and they are often vicious and just despicable,” she added.

Western Australian state government minister Hannah Beazley arrive for a Labor caucus meeting in Perth, Australia, June 6, 2023. (Richard Wainwright/AAP Image via AP)