The Lead: Heading into tonight’s game, the Indiana Pacers were 10-6 on the road, hadn’t suffered back-to-back losses, and had not lost a game in which they’d topped 90 points. So it was impressive for the Grizzlies to hand the Pacers their second straight loss despite not being able to play their usual style. The Grizzlies had 9 steals and the Pacers 15 turnovers — good numbers for the Grizzlies but both below their league-leading averages. Yet despite scoring only 8 points in transition, the Grizzlies were still able to score 98 points against what was the league’s fifth best defense heading into the game.
In a game with 18 lead changes and a tie score at the end of each of the first three quarters, neither team was able to go on more than a minor run, but the Grizzlies were able to make the winning plays late in the game.
“In the first half they were outworking us. In the second half we did a good job defensively,” coach Lionel Hollins said after the game, commending his bench — including deep options Hamed Haddadi and Jeremy Pargo — for being able to buy rest for key starters, with the Grizzlies able to win a second straight game with Rudy Gay (38), Marc Gasol (35), and Mike Conley (36) all under 40 minutes.
“I thought that helped us stay fresh down the stretch,” Hollins said.
Man of the Match: It was the battle of the All-Star Reserve Centers with Marc Gasol facing off against Roy Hibbert. And while Gasol’s final stat line was modest — 15 points on 4-8 shooting, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals — he badly outplayed Hibbert (5 points on 1-7 shooting, 7 rebounds, 0 blocks) and made a series of big plays in the final minutes.
