Warriors-Grizzlies Summer League Final: Memphis Favored Behind Boozer’s Breakout Run
Two teams carrying identical 4-1 records into Sunday night’s NBA Summer League Championship — and only one of them has spent the last two weeks looking like it showed up on purpose.
The Memphis Grizzlies and Golden State Warriors meet at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on July 19, tipping at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN. Memphis is a 3.5-point favorite, with the over/under sitting at 181.5, according to odds published by Covers.com.
Both clubs rolled through five games to reach the final, but the gap between them is wider than the records suggest. Memphis owns a +51 point differential. Golden State sits at +31. The Warriors’ lone loss? A 19-point drubbing at the hands of these same Grizzlies on July 14, a game that produced 191 combined points.
Memphis has the deeper plate. Four of its five starters logged multiple NBA starts last season. Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Taylor Hendricks have each appeared in over 100 NBA games across three-year careers — guys who’ve already tasted the real thing and are now back in the summer kitchen seasoning the rookies.
The headliner is Cameron Boozer, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, who’s been carving up Las Vegas to the tune of 18.4 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. Leading scorer Cedric Coward, an All-Rookie First Team selection last season, gives Memphis a second engine. Four of the Grizzlies’ five starters are averaging 14 or more points.
Golden State counters with the 10th-highest scoring offense in Summer League at 93.8 points per game — respectable, but Memphis ranks fourth at 97.6 and has allowed fewer points on the defensive end as well. Both teams land in the top 12 across the board in field goal percentage, three-point percentage, offensive rebounds, assists, and fewest turnovers, which is a polite way of saying neither squad turns the ball over like a typical summer roster still learning the playbook.
The total has gone over 181.5 in three of Golden State’s five games and four of Memphis’ five. When they collided earlier this month, they blew past the number by nearly ten points.
For Memphis, the championship game carries a score to settle. The Grizzlies reached the Summer League final in 2024 and lost to the Miami Heat. This is their second title-game appearance in three years — a franchise that keeps knocking on the door in July and wouldn’t mind finally kicking it down.
The oddsmakers see a high-scoring night with Memphis pulling away. The Warriors will need to prove their earlier 19-point loss was a bad appetizer, not the main course.
Sources:
- Warriors vs Grizzlies Predictions & Odds for Tonight’s NBA Summer League Championship — Yahoo Sports / Covers.com
- What to know before NBA Summer League final between Grizzlies and Warriors — Yahoo Sports