Player of the Game
LUTHER HEAD
In his first start of the season, the veteran guard matched his career-high with 30 points, 15 in the fourth quarter. He made 10-of-19 overall and 4-of-6 from the 3-point line, adding seven rebounds.
Plus-Minus
Name Game Season
Diener DNP ---
Dunleavy -22 -77
Ford -23 -203
Foster DNP -9
Granger DNP -58
Hansbrough DNP -29
Head -3 +61
Hibbert +7 -56
D. Jones -20 -160
S. Jones -24 -82
McRoberts +9 0
Murphy DNP -227
Price 0 +14
Rush +11 -64
Watson +10 -30
Noteworthy
  • After never having won in Indianapolis in their first 12 seasons of existence, the Grizzlies have won two of their last three games on the Pacers' home floor and they have won four of the last five games vs. Indiana overall.
  • For the second night in a row, the Pacers outscored their opponent from the field (93-92), only to be outscored by double digits from the foul line (29-17).
  • Tying a season-high, the Grizzlies had 13 steals tonight, including a season-high tying three by Mike Conley, three from Rudy Gay and two each from O.J. Mayo and Jamaal Tinsley.
  • The Pacers scored a season-high 64 points in the paint.
  • Including six from Earl Watson and four by A.J. Price, the Pacers had 21 assists tonight, but fell to 4-10 in games with 20+ assists this season.
    • Hustle Board
    Points in the paint:
    Pacers 64, Grizzlies 48
    Fast-break points:
    Grizzlies 19, Paces 17
    Second-chance points:
    Grizzlies 17, Pacers 15
    Points off turnovers:
    Grizzlies 23, Pacers 22
    Starters scoring:
    Grizzlies 105, Pacers 50
    Bench scoring:
    Pacers 60, Grizzlies 16
    Stat of the Night
    In sweeping the Pacers this season for the first time ever, the Grizzlies got 205 points from their starting lineup in two games – an average of 20.5 points per starter.
    Up Next
    The Pacers open the 2010 portion of their schedule at home Saturday against the Minnesota Timberwolves (7 p.m., Fox Sports Indiana, 1070 The Fan).
    Related links
  • Blog replay
  • Video
  • Box score
  • Recap
    • Dec. 30, 2009 at Chicago
    Grizzlies 121, Pacers 110
    END RESULT
    On a night when their rotations were again scrambled by injuries, the Pacers needed big contributions from unexpected sources to compete with the talented, surging, Memphis Grizzlies. Though Luther Head matched his career-high with 30 points and sparked a spirited rally in the fourth quarter and Roy Hibbert produced a career-high 25 off the bench, it wasn't enough as Memphis held on for a 122-110 victory Wednesday before 14,741 in Conseco Fieldhouse.

    Troy Murphy (ankle), Tyler Hansbrough (ear infection) and Jeff Foster (back) all missed the game with injuries, leaving the Pacers perilously thin in the frontcourt and forcing Jim O'Brien to use his 11th lineup of the season and third in three games, moving Head in for his first start and using 6-6 Dahntay Jones at power forward next to Solomon Jones at center.

    IMPACT
    The Pacers lost their eighth in a row and 19th in 23 games to fall to 9-22 overall, 6-9 at home. Memphis swept the Pacers for the first time ever and won for the fifth time in six games to improve to 15-16. The Grizzlies were 9-4 in December and are 13-8 since waiving Allen Iverson.

    QUOTEWORTHY
  • “I thought Luther (Head) is doing some good things. He’s able to score the ball and put on some defensive pressure. I thought Roy (Hibbert) had a good game but to give us a chance to win we couldn’t walk it up and post up." -- Jim O'Brien.
  • "I say the same thing as when you’re on a winning streak, it’s in the past. We’re disappointed, the whole organization is disappointed. We need practice time and need to build habits.” -- O'Brien on the losing streak.
  • "We just have to get out and run. We have to run more and move the ball more. We’re settling for a lot of jump shots instead of taking it to the hole. And our defense has been pretty bad the first five minutes or so. We have to get that under control.” -- Brandon Rush.
  • "We dig ourselves so big a hole that when we start making our runs it’s like too little, too late. We like the effort. If we can get that consistently through the whole game we’ll be alright.” -- Luther Head.
  • “This is a business and it is what it is. You take the good with the bad and right now I feel that I’ve got a good fit here in Memphis. I am happy to be on the court playing basketball again. I waited for this for a long time to get the right fit and I think I have it now.” -- Memphis guard Jamaal Tinsley.

    KEY MOMENTS
    For the fourth straight game, the Pacers fell behind big in the first quarter as Memphis took a 35-20 lead. The Pacers closed the period on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to six but the Grizzlies regained control in the second quarter, pushing the lead to 62-38 before the Pacers chipped it to 68-51 at the half.

    The Grizzlies cruised through most of the second half and were up 111-93 late but Head scored eight in a row, including a pair of 3-pointers, to cut it 111-101. After another Head 3-pointer made it 118-108, the Pacers got a stop and a chance to move closer but A.J. Price missed a trey and that's where the rally ended.

    BY THE NUMBERS
    Head scored 15 of his 30 in the fourth quarter when he made 6-of-10 shots, including 3-of-5 from the arc. Hibbert hit 8-of-14 shots and 9-of-10 free throws, adding 13 rebounds to go along with his career-high 25 points for his sixth double-double of the season. Brandon Rush scored 15, hitting 6-of-12 overall and 3-of-7 from the arc, and Dahntay Jones 14 on 7-of-11 shooting. Josh McRoberts had the third double-figure game of his NBA career with 10 points, adding four rebounds, three assists and a block. Earl Watson tied his career-high with 10 rebounds. T.J. Ford started at point guard but did not play in the second half and Mike Dunleavy played just 3 minutes in the second half and was scoreless for the game. The Pacers shot .483 and outrebounded the Grizzlies 41-37 but were outscored 29-17 from the line. They also got 60 points off the bench.

    All five Memphis starters were again in double figures led by Rudy Gay with 31 (with nine rebounds, four assists and three steals). Zach Randolph had 28 points and 13 boards and Marc Gasol 21 points and 10 boards. Mike Conley had 13 points, seven assists and three steals and O.J. Mayo 12 points. Sam Young scored 11 off the bench. In his first game in Conseco Fieldhouse since Feb. 5, 2008 with the Pacers, Jamaal Tinsley played 15 minutes off the bench, producing three points, two steals and three turnovers. The Grizzlies shot .506 and were 6-of-11 from the 3-point line.