The Pacers had an eight-point halftime lead, and in just over six minutes into the second half it was gone … for good.
Hosting the Memphis Grizzlies, who are expected to be a top five team in the Western Conference, careless possessions held the Pacers back Friday night. It was just their second game of the second game of the season, but they’ve given the ball away 18 times each thus far.
“[It’s] probably to be expected but not acceptable,” head coach Frank Vogel said following their 97-89 loss. “We should be able to do better than that no matter what our situation is.”
The Pacers, and specifically the reserves, had an outstanding second quarter. They were responsible for 18 of the quarter’s first 23 points, and surged ahead 53-45 by intermission. Vogel diagramed an outstanding final play during a timeout and his guys executed perfectly — with Roy Hibbert getting the ball on the right elbow and hitting guard Donald Sloan, who was cutting back door, for the layup.
Then, it all went downhill.
The tested Grizzlies went on a 26-2 run, and outscored the Pacers by 19 in the period to stretch their lead to 11 entering the final period.
“Turnovers killed us tonight,” said guard Rodney Stuckey. “We came out flat in the third quarter. We had a lead and they just came out and wanted it more. That killed the vibe of the game.
“It bit us in the butt.”
While now-starter Luis Scola had a tough time getting going — he had two points, five rebounds and five turnovers in 18:33 — Lavoy Allen impressed and his play argued for more minutes. His game complements Roy Hibbert’s a little better, and eases the rebounding burden quite a bit.
“I like what he brings,” said Sloan, who typically works alongside Allen off the court. “We can definitely use a guy in there to fight and to get guys out of their positions, he can hit that jumper, and he’ll grab the rebound. Going forward, him alongside Big Dawg I think that’ll be a good combination because he’ll help Roy on the boards, hit that pick-and-pop jumper, and he’s a willing passer.”
Allen finished with eight points and was the only Pacer with double-digit rebounds (10), but none of that matters to him.
“I don’t really worry about numbers and all that,” he said sitting in his locker room chair. “I just worry about wins and losses, and I think we gave up one tonight. I’m not really excited about that.”
Memphis starts three former Indiana high school basketball standouts in Mike Conley (Lawrence North), Courtney Lee (Pike), and Zach Randolph (Marion). Lee was the lone Memphis player in double figures at the break (12), but he exited the game in the second quarter and was ruled out for the rest of the game due to a mild concussion. Hibbert’s knee inadvertently connected with the back of his head.
“For me, Zach, and C. Lee, this is home,” Conley said postgame. “For us to come home and win in front of family and friends and all the people that we love, it’s always awesome. This is always the game that’s starred on the schedule.”
The other two contributed with more success in the second half — Randolph had 22 points and Conley finished with 17 — and Marc Gasol tallied 20.
“We lost,” Allen said. “That’s what I’m irritated about. Second half [Zach] Randolph and [Marc] Gasol really started getting going and I got a bunch of those points. That’s what I’m really not happy about.”
You gotta appreciate his honesty, as opposed to Roy Hibbert’s non-answers of “We have to watch the film. We’ll see.”
Newcomer Damjan Rudež struggled to dial it up from long distance in the preseason but he built some confidence Friday night, burying his first three attempts from downtown, each from the left size. Five Pacers in all reach double figures, led by Chris Copeland’s 16 points, which is three shy from his season-high last season.
Chemistry will take time; that’s true with any team. Just look at the Cavaliers, who dropped their season opener to the weaker New York Knicks. The Pacers were fortunate to open against Philadelphia 76ers of all teams.
Many of Indiana’s games this season could look very similar to Friday’s loss to the Grizzlies. Have a great quarter or two, have a couple bright spots, a big detriment, and the opponent pulls away.
David West (ankle) remains out this weekend and will be reevaluated next week. George Hill and C.J. Watson are still a few weeks away.
“It’s 82 games,” Sloan emphasized. “82 games. If we get these guys back soon enough, we’ll see what happens.”
The Pacers flew to Atlanta after the game. They’ll not only be completing their first set of back-to-back games Saturday night, but it’s the Hawk’s home opener.
Nonetheless, after two games, what needs to be corrected is obvious.
“Take care of the ball,” Stuckey said so simply.
Noteworthy
- Pacers owner Herb Simon was on hand, and sat beside Donnie Walsh in the executive corner.
- Former Pacer Haywoode Workman (1993-99) was one of the three game officials.
- Attendance was down, as to be expected due to it being a Friday night (and football playoffs are still going on), Halloween, and the team’s start players are out with injuries.
- Rodney Stuckey on his sprained right foot: “It’s feeling a lot better. Just taking it day by day. Hopefully by next week I’ll get up to the 20-plus range in minutes.”