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3 Takeaways From Pacers’ 107-103 Win Over Grizzlies
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- 3 Takeaways From Pacers’ 107-103 Win Over Grizzlies
(Petre Thomas-Imagn Images)
The Indiana Pacers ended a five-game losing streak Wednesday night with a 107-103 win over the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum. Aaron Nesmith's corner 3 with 14.6 seconds left was the final basket.
Andrew Nembhard, Pascal Siakam, and Nesmith were back after sitting out Monday's 108-104 home loss to Atlanta , when Indiana had six players in uniform. Ivica Zubac and Obi Toppin also returned .
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Holding Memphis to 103
Memphis came in 6-1 and had scored 134 points in Monday's overtime loss to New Orleans. Indiana held the Grizzlies to 41-of-91 shooting and 12-of-44 from 3-point range. In the fourth quarter, Memphis went 7-of-27 from the field and 3-of-15 from deep.
Ty Jerome scored 23 points on 10-of-20 shooting but went 2-of-10 from 3. Over the final 12 minutes, he was 2-of-6 and missed all three of his 3-point tries.
The Pacers had been short on intensity, force, and collective will before this game, in Pacers coach Rick Carlisle's view, and the six who played Monday gave them a spark.
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"I think the numbers will bear that out, 103," Carlisle said. "And they shot a low percentage from three. And look, we had to do some soul searching headed into this game. We have not been playing up to a consistent level of intensity, force, collective will. The group that played in the Atlanta game, I thought, gave us a spark and it was meaningful. And tonight we just drew a line in the sand, just decided we were not gonna go away."
"There were some times, the end part of that third quarter got difficult," Carlisle continued. "We got down, I think, eight. And then Nembhard went on an amazing run to get it back to a two-point game. And then the defense in the fourth was terrific. Nesmith, Larry Nance defending what Jerome's doing right now from 35 feet away from the basket and all the awkward wrong-foot shots. I mean, he's just a very unique player, and he's playing at an extremely high level. And so we held him to, what is it, 22 points, and he's been averaging 28, and we won by four. So there you go. There's the difference in the game."
"But we needed everybody, once again," Carlisle added. "And some guys that won't get a lot of mention, but Walker played a great fourth quarter. He came up with some rebounds in traffic. He was in the right place at the right time. Had a big finish on the break. Did a lot of good things. You go right down the line. Quenton Jackson played with a lot of courage out there. Braden Smith gave us good minutes again and gave us another playmaker. And then Pascal really helped us finish the game."
Memphis' biggest lead was 8, at 66-58 with 7:39 left in the third quarter.
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Nesmith blocked a Jerami Grant drive 30 seconds into the fourth, then stole a Cameron Boozer pass and dunked to tie the game 82-82. Jay Huff and Braden Smith each blocked a shot on one Memphis possession midway through the quarter. Indiana finished with 7 blocks, and Larry Nance Jr. was plus-18 in 14:25.
Getting Jerome into his pick-and-rolls against that pressure is still a work in progress, Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said.
"Well, you already mentioned a few of them there, so that's a good start," Iisalo said. "It's the same question just asked, so it will take some time. It will take some time. We're still figuring out what the guys can also do in this ecosystem and together. And there's obviously, you can have others bring it up, [too]. You can have that. That can also slow down the game. You can speed it up or slow it down that way. We know that Ty is in there to generate those pick and rolls for us. He's in some of the highest percentiles in the whole league when he gets those, and he's very efficient with them."
"We just got to figure that out and that's why we watch the tape and then draw the conclusions and try, [in the] small amount of time that we have to practice, we try to work on those," Iisalo continued. "[There are] a lot of them. You can break them down, the highest level, that's the team tactics, what are some of those, but then there's also the individual decision-making in those situations, whether the handler or the screener, or the three other players around it, or four other players around it. And then there's their skill level, the tools that they have. The decisions are more about, let's say, the tactics, what you make in that situation."
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"But if you don't have the technical skills, for example, now you must work on it, and that can take a longer time," Iisalo added. "It can still be addressed, and then it's more robust. That's why you see the best players in the world. They're extremely skilled and that opens up more tools for them. So we just got to find the right level to access, then work on that, get better. That's a very straightforward and logical process."
Nineteen Turnovers Forced
Memphis committed 19 turnovers, and the Pacers turned them into 24 points. Indiana had 10 steals: 3 from Nesmith and 2 each from Smith, Quenton Jackson, and Siakam. Both of Siakam's came on Boozer turnovers.
Eight of the Grizzlies' giveaways came in the first quarter, and Indiana turned those into 12 points on the way to a 32-24 lead.
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Smith opened the game by stealing a Cedric Coward pass and scoring at the other end. For him, the defensive scheme is what put the Pacers in the right spots.
"It always helps," Smith said. "Being able to be in the right spot at the right time and obviously trusting the game plan and our defensive scheming rules, I think it just puts you in the right spots. And then, obviously, you've got to go make the play."
Nembhard's Third Quarter
Nembhard played all 12 minutes of the third and scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, including a 16-foot pull-up and an 11-foot fadeaway in the final 32 seconds. He finished with 22 points in 37:40.
Indiana outscored Memphis 18-14 in fast-break points.
Indiana is home Saturday against the Denver Nuggets, with tip-off at 5 p.m. ET.
