Pacers rally to beat Grizzlies 88-83
INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Pacers can beat a team with a winning record after all.
The Pacers picked up their fourth win of the season against a team with a .500 record or better when they came from 12 points down to beat the Memphis Grizzlies 88-83 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Monday afternoon.
"That's a really good team win," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "I'm proud of them and the effort to beat a really good basketball team."
The Pacers are now 4-11 against teams with winning records this season. The victory moved them back to the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference and first place in the Central Division.
"Everybody had to step up, and everybody did," George said. "This was definitely a team win."?
Memphis forward Rudy Gay missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game with 4.7 seconds left. Guard Lance Stephenson made two free throws to ice the game for the Pacers.
"We had it in our clutches, and our first four of six possessions in the fourth quarter were turnovers," Grizzlies coach Lionel Hollins said. "We haven't been committed to sharing the basketball and making the right decisions, and that puts too much pressure on the defense."?
Paul George scored 21 points for the Pacers (18-13), who were without starting point guard George Hill (strained groin), and David West added 13 points and nine rebounds.
Zach Randolph scored 21 points and grabbed 15 rebounds for Memphis (19-9).
The Pacers were down 11 and coach Frank Vogel was ready to blow up at the officials late in the third quarter when they suddenly got some life into them.
The Pacers scored the last five points of the quarter then opened the final quarter by scoring six of the first eight points, with all six coming on 3-pointers from Ben Hansbrough.
"We got selfish in the fourth quarter," Grizzlies guard Mike Conley said. "We made a lot of bad turnovers and didn't continue to play our transition game."
They got to within two on two free throws from Roy Hibbert and then got the lead a possession later when West forced the ball from Darrell Arthur and George picked up the loose ball and went in for an uncontested dunk to give the Pacers a 70-69 lead.
The Grizzlies came back and quickly took the lead on Arthur's jumper before West made four straight free throws, George added a free throw and a jumper to give Indiana a 77-74 lead with 3:53 remaining.
The Pacers looked like the league's best defensive team in the final quarter. They held the Grizzlies to 25-percent shooting (5-of-2), forced six turnovers and outscored them 28-16. Memphis finished the game shooting 37.8 percent from the field, marking the 14th time this season that the Pacers held an opponent to below 40-percent shooting.
"Our defense got us back in the game, that and the attitude to block them off the offensive glass," said Pacers point guard D.J. Augustin, who had 17 points and six assists while starting in place of the injured Hill.
"I wanted to come in and do my best to help the team win," Augustin said. "When you play the amount of minutes I played, you get more of a rhythm, a flow."
NOTES: Hibbert had the worst game of his five-year career when he was held scoreless and grabbed one rebound against Atlanta over the weekend. Vogel said they have to continue to go to him even though he so far has failed to live up to the $58 million contract he signed over the summer. "I'm going to do everything I can to put him in position to succeed," Vogel said. ... Sam Young returned to the lineup after missing the previous two games with the flu. ... The Grizzlies are still in an adjustment period without swingman Quincy Pondexter, who leads them in scoring off the bench. He's out with an MCL sprain. Arthur is getting minutes at small forward.
