Preview: Pacers at Grizzlies
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[March 29, 2017]
The Indiana Pacers haven't won
consecutive games since bridging January and February with a
seven-game streak but somehow find themselves among a group of teams
bidding for the No. 5 spot in the Eastern Conference. The Memphis
Grizzlies, who host the Pacers on Wednesday, are losers of four in a
row and are falling out of the running for the No. 6 spot in the
West.
Indiana had a chance to lock up consecutive wins but dropped a
115-114 decision at home to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday to
drop into seventh place in the East, one game behind the Atlanta
Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks tied for fifth and one ahead of
eighth-place Miami. "As a team, we've got to have the grit, we've
got to man up, got to own up," All-Star forward Paul George told
reporters after the loss. "At this point in the season, you don't
have a game like this, being up four with under a minute (left) and
let your opponent beat you, especially a young team. You don't give
that up. It's a very frustrating loss." The Grizzlies are enduring
their share of frustrating losses as well and averaged 89 points
while being swept on a four-game road trip, capped by Monday's 91-90
loss at Sacramento. "We don’t care about no playoff seeding or
anything else right now other than getting back to playing like
we’re capable of playing," shooting guard Tony Allen told the team's
website. "It boils down to communication, no excuses. And we’ve got
to get better in that area in a hurry."
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FSN Indiana, FSN Southeast (Memphis)
ABOUT THE PACERS (37-37): Indiana is only two games ahead of the
ninth-place Chicago Bulls and will play three straight and five of
the final eight games on the road, from where they have not won
since March 5. "We've got a game (Wednesday)," center Myles Turner
told reporters after Tuesday's setback. "We know we're in a tight
race, we've got to get better. It's frustrating losing when we had a
lead in the fourth quarter, but you've got to get past it." George
is doing his part and is averaging 27.1 points in March after
scoring 37 points to go along with seven rebounds and four steals on
Tuesday.
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ABOUT THE GRIZZLIES (40-34): Memphis might be able to
pull out of its funk sooner rather than later if All-Star center
Marc Gasol can make his way back from a foot strain that hampered
him in the first two games of the trip and kept him off the floor
the last two. "He’s just day-to-day at this point," Grizzlies coach
David Fizdale told Grind City Media. "The fact that it’s his
non-surgical foot, that’s a positive. But we just have to see what’s
up with him over these next few days. As long as he’s moving, that’s
a good thing. I think it’s just swelling and soft-tissue type
stuff." Gasol is averaging a career-high 19.9 points and is shooting
38.1 percent from 3-point range on 252 attempts - 186 more attempts
than in his first eight seasons combined.
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BUZZER BEATERS
1. Pacers SG Glenn Robinson III (calf) sat out the last three games
and is not expected to play Wednesday.
2. Grizzlies PF Zach Randolph snapped a string of eight straight
games without a double-double by collecting 17 points and 15
rebounds on Monday.
3. Indiana snapped a five-game losing streak in the series with a
102-92 home win over Memphis on Feb. 24.
PREDICTION: Grizzlies 101, Pacers 97 [© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
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