With 9:40 remaining in the Grizzlies' 105-97 loss to Houston on Saturday night, common sense suggested Jevon Carter's NBA debut would be ending soon.

His second stint on the floor started in the third quarter, and with Memphis clawing back from a 21-point deficit, it felt like a strange time to have a second-round draft pick guarding the reigning MVP.

But it was at this point, just before Mike Conley and Marc Gasol checked in to close the game, that Carter proved why he needed to be on the floor — and why he is with the Grizzlies in the first place.

While guarding prolific scorer James Harden, Carter fought over a screen and ripped the ball away from the six-time All-Star.

Carter then beat Harden to the bucket for a lay-up that brought Memphis within 85-73.

As starters checked back in for the Grizzlies, Carter stayed.

After 12 games with the G-League Memphis Hustle, the 23-year-old former West Virginia star played the entire fourth quarter of his NBA debut and gave the Grizzlies something positive to take from their eighth loss in 12 games.

“He is very active, he plays his butt off, he is everywhere on the floor," Harden said. "He did an unbelievable job pressing me and Chris up the floor, creating some defense and offense. He was very active.”

Carter finished with 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting and two steals in 22 minutes while embracing a challenging defensive assignments against Houston.

“It felt good," Carter said. "Especially when the fans went crazy when I checked in, that kind of sounded like the ovation I had my last game at West Virginia. It was just good to be out there.”

Carter has dressed out for Grizzlies games throughout the season and practiced with the team. But with veteran point guards Mike Conley and Shelvin Mack on the roster, Grizzlies management opted to take a developmental approach to the beginning of Carter's professional career.

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For Carter, that has meant a lot of driving between Southaven, Mississippi, where the Memphis Hustle play, and Memphis, where the Hustle and Grizzlies practice.

“It’s just part of the game. It’s a process," Carter said. "Every day, I come in here and work. I just wait and I give my best effort. Being a good teammate on the bench for these guys. I love playing with these guys, so whatever I can do to help, that’s what I do.”

The loudest ovation of the night for an individual player came at the 8:32 mark of the second quarter when Carter checked in with the Grizzlies trailing 43-33.

While guarding nine-time All-Star Chris Paul a few possessions later, Carter stole a hand-off between Clint Capela and Paul. Then Paul wrapped up Carter in bear hug and was called for a foul.

The sequence offered a glimmer of what the Grizzlies saw in Carter when they selected the former Naismith Defensive Player of the Year with the 32nd overall pick in this year's draft.

“That’s what he does," fellow rookie Jaren Jackson Jr. said. "He’s a lockdown defender."

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Carter showed some offensive flare, too.

With one minute left in the third quarter, Carter rebounded a Rockets miss, split a pair of defenders while driving coast-to-coast and rifled into the paint for lay-up.

With 7:28 left, Harden drove into the paint for a floater. Jackson slid over to contest the shot and swatted it into the air.

Omri Casspi pulled it down and passed ahead to Carter for a dunk to cut the Memphis deficit to 12 points.

Carter hit 1-of-5 3-point tries on the night while juggling difficult defensive assignments with Harden and Paul.

"He inspired all of us I think," Gasol said. "It changed the dynamic of the game, lifted the team and it was great to see. Obviously, we’ve seen some of it in practice. But when you see the impact it has one the game and the impact he had on the game and the poise that he played with, it was really good to see and refreshing.”

Carter's debut came courtesy of a sprained left ankle for Kyle Anderson. With Anderson out of the lineup against Houston, the Grizzlies started Mack.

That meant Memphis had no true point guard to bring in off the bench.

Before the game, the Grizzlies changed Carter's status from "out" with "knee soreness" to "active" for the game.

Carter stood up from his locker after the game, looked at the suit he had planned to wear on the bench and joked about how excited he had been to show off his fashion choice.

Instead, he embodied grit and grind on the floor, with journeyman guard Garrett Temple saying Carter's performance was "everything this organization saw when they drafted him."

"Exactly what this team stands for, the grit and grind," Temple said. "That’s what stood out. We’ve seen it every day in practice and real happy for him and proud of him to come out and show what he can do.”

As for Carter and a debut that required him to stay in front of two players with a combined 15 All-Star appearances?

“It was fun," he said. "I’m a competitor. I want to play against the best. At this level, that’s just what it’s going to be. Night in and night out you’re going to play against guys like that, and you’ve got to be able to compete.”

MORE ON JEVON CARTER:Grizzlies: How Jevon Carter is adapting to wild NBA and G-League schedule

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