MEMPHIS, Tenn., March 20 (Ticker) -- James Posey gave one of his mentors a memento.

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Posey scored eight of his 16 points in the final two-plus minutes to rally the Memphis Grizzlies to a 99-95 victory over the league-leading Indiana Pacers.

Posey attended Twinsburg Academy outside Cleveland, where he played for Bob O'Casey. He played collegiately at Xavier, where O'Casey occasionally came to see him play.

The men remain close, and O'Casey was watching Posey have an ordinary game. Memphis appeared headed for a loss, going five minutes without a basket and falling behind, 90-85, with less than five minutes to play.

The Grizzlies responded with a 12-0 run to take the lead for good. Posey backed down Reggie Miller for a basket and a 93-90 lead with 2:03 to play, then drove around defensive demon Ron Artest for a three-point play 34 seconds later, fouling out Jermaine O'Neal.

"I feel confident in the plays called down the stretch," Posey said. "Coach (Hubie Brown) has confidence in me and I just try to make the play."

The Pacers closed to 97-95 on a 3-pointer by Jamaal Tinsley with 42 seconds left and had a chance to tie in the closing moments. But Miller missed an open runner, and Posey sealed it with two free throws with 6.3 seconds remaining.

"You couldn't ask for a better look," said Miller, a great clutch shooter who made just 1-of-4 shots. "Jamaal delivered the ball on time, I had a good look at it, and I just missed it."

Pau Gasol and reserve Stromile Swift scored 17 points apiece for Memphis, which has won nine of its last 11 games.

"We were able to get stops, limit them to one shot and rebound," Posey said. "We were able to execute in the half-court set. I think the key was just being able to get those stops."

"It's getting harder and harder to win," Gasol said. "Teams are getting more physical now and that's just the way it is. We played hard tonight and everyone contributed."

O'Neal had 28 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks for the Pacers (50-19), who have lost two in a row after a five-game winning streak to fall into a tie with Sacramento for the NBA's best record.

After shutting down Memphis early in the fourth quarter, Indiana had its own drought of over four minutes, going 0-of-6 with three turnovers.

"We've got to look in the mirror and check ourselves," O'Neal said. "It's on us. Not to discredit what coach Brown and his team did, but there's no way we should have lost this game."

The Grizzlies played without the injured Lorenzen Wright and Bonzi Wells but welcomed back swingman Mike Miller, who had missed the last 15 games with a back injury. Miller started and scored 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

"I feel a lot better now that I don't have to worry about it any more," he said. "I had no apprehensions about my back tonight."

A dunk by O'Neal gave Indiana a 90-85 lead with 4:56 to go before Memphis rallied. Miller made a floater, Gasol scored inside and Bo Outlaw sank two free throws for a 91-90 lead with 2 1/2 minutes to go.

Artest scored 23 points and Jeff Foster added 17 for the Pacers, who squandered an early 13-point lead.