Memphis Grizzlies guard Mike Conley, left, drives toward the basket against Atlanta Hawks guard Trae Young during the first half of Friday night's game in Memphis.MEMPHIS - The Memphis Grizzlies' newcomers made a fine first impression on the home crowd.
Garrett Temple, picked up in a July trade with the Sacramento Kings, scored 30 points and rookie Jaren Jackson Jr. added 24 as the Grizzlies built a first-half lead and coasted to a 131-117 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.
"The energy was more like a spectacle," Jackson said of pregame fireworks, dancers and the performance by Memphis rapper Young Dolph in the home opener. Asked later to comment on specifics, he said, "It's a blur. I ain't going to lie. I really can't."
Temple missed only one of his 11 shots, shooting 5-for-6 from 3-point range. While Jackson, the fourth overall pick in last summer's draft, was starry-eyed and giddy with youthful exuberance, Temple, in his ninth NBA season, was more of a steady veteran.
Memphis coach J.B. Bickerstaff texted him Thursday night asking for more leadership to help the Grizzlies forget their season-opening 111-83 road loss against the Indiana Pacers.
"That's part of the reason they brought me here, for my leadership and competitive toughness," Temple said. "I just wanted to have a pace offensively and do some things defensively."
Of his offense, he said: "The rim opened up for me."
Mike Conley added 16 points and 11 assists for Memphis.
Taurean Prince led the Hawks with 28 points, while point guard Trae Young, the No. 5 overall pick in the draft, added 20 on 7-for-18 shooting. DeAndre' Bembry and Miles Plumlee each added 12 points.
"For sure not happy with the result, but I feel like I'm getting more comfortable out there," Young said of his second regular-season NBA game. "I'm getting more comfortable with my teammates."
The Hawks, considered one of the league's weakest teams, fell way off the pace in the second quarter, when the Grizzlies outscored Atlanta 40-28. From there, the Hawks never really threatened as Memphis extended its lead to 25 points in the third quarter.
"When we get down so much, and we have to battle back, we're putting ourselves in bad spots early on," Young said. "It's hard for us to battle back and take the lead and things like that."
Memphis, which shot 29.8 percent in its opener, reversed that trend against the Hawks. The Grizzlies finished the game having connected on 54 percent of their shots, including 13-for-26 from beyond the arc.
The tone was set early as the Memphis offense clicked to a 77-61 lead at the break, with the 77 points matching a franchise record for points in any half.
"We didn't start with the intensity that we wanted to start with defensively and the guys know, and they feel it and understand that," first-year Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce said. "We just have to apply it to the court. But we did get better; we've just got to put it together for 48 minutes."
The game featured the league's second-youngest player - Jackson, 19 years old - and the oldest - 41-year-old veteran Vince Carter, who started the game for the Hawks. Jackson wasn't born when Carter debuted with the Toronto Raptors in 1998.