Game Rewind: Pacers 105, Grizzlies 101

Bojan Bogdanovic has struggled with his shot for much of the last two months. But he might have busted out of a prolonged slump on Wednesday night.

Bogdanovic scored a team-high 21 points on 7-of-12 shooting (3-of-7 from 3-point range) on Wednesday to lift the Pacers (29-23) to a 105-101 victory over the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies (18-32).

It was Bogdanovic's highest-scoring game since Nov. 27 and he made several key plays down the stretch, including a key steal and score with 4:44 remaining and three free throws in the final second to seal the victory.

Pacers head coach Nate McMillan said after Bogdanovic went scoreless in Monday's win over Charlotte that he felt the 6-8 forward had hit a wall recently, experiencing fatigue after a long summer representing his native Croatia in the EuroBasket tournament. McMillan gave Bogdanovic the day off on Tuesday and he responded with a strong performance against the Grizzlies.

"I was struggling from the 3-point line," Bogdanovic said. "Then you kind of hesitate on those shots, then you make a couple wrong decisions, and then you get a little bit crazy in your mind.

"But hopefully, this month is over."

Myles Turner was back in the starting lineup on Wednesday. The 21-year-old had missed nine games with a right elbow injury and then come off the bench in the past two contests as he eased his way back into the rotation. The Pacers went to him early and often on the inside, where he drew three fouls and racked up seven points and six rebounds in the first quarter.

Point guard Darren Collison — who scored 30 points in a win in Memphis on Nov. 15 — was also very effective early, scoring nine points on 3-of-3 shooting in the opening period, but the Pacers trailed Memphis, 25-21, after one.

The two teams remained close throughout the second quarter, with the Pacers taking a 55-53 lead on Victor Oladipo's reverse layup with 6.3 seconds remaining in the half.

Marc Gasol's 3-pointer on Memphis' opening possession of the second half put the visitors back in front briefly, but the Pacers answered with a 3-point barrage of their own. Collison, Oladipo, and Bogdanovic took turns knocking down triples on three consecutive possessions as the hosts opened up an eight-point lead.

The Blue & Gold maintained the advantage for the remainder of the third quarter, closing the period with a 7-1 run to take an 84-75 lead into the fourth.

The Grizzlies clawed their way back, cutting the deficit to 95-93 on Wayne Selden's 3-pointer with 6:10 remaining. The Pacers responded with four straight points to make it a two-possession game, but the Grizzlies cut the deficit to two again on another Selden triple — this one from the left corner — with 2:51 to play.

After Bogdanovic missed on the other end, Selden put Memphis back in front with yet another 3-pointer, just beating the shot clock to give Memphis a 101-100 lead with 1:57 remaining.

The Pacers twice put the ball in the hands of Oladipo, but the All-Star guard missed a three and then picked up an offensive foul on consecutive possessions. But Indiana's defense came through, as Turner corralled a rebound off a Dillon Brooks miss, drew a foul on Selden, and knocked down both foul shots to put the home team back in front with 34.2 seconds to play.

"I had missed (four) free throws before that, I was frustrated with myself," Turner said. "So I just concentrated on every part of my form there and got the result."

Memphis had two looks to win the game. Gasol missed a turnaround jumper, but the Grizzlies corralled the rebound and reset their offense. Selden drove against Cory Joseph, but the Pacers' defense swarmed him at the rim, forcing a miss.

Bogdanovic was fouled with 0.7 seconds left and Selden was given a technical and ejected during the ensuing replay review. Bogdanovic knocked down all three foul shots to seal the victory.

"He did a great job, man, especially down the stretch," Oladipo said. "(His fourth-quarter steal) was a huge play for us. Getting the rebound at the end of the game was huge for us. Stepping up and making all those free throws was huge, too. The way he shot the ball today was huge for us, as well."

"Great job from him. He just needs to build on it and we need him. It's great to see him play well."

The Croatian led seven Pacers players in double figures in the win. Collison added 16 points and Turner recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Oladipo (13 points and five assists), Lance Stephenson (13 points) and Domantas Sabonis (10 points and seven rebounds) all also scored in double digits.

Selden led the Grizzlies with 24 points, going 6-for-10 from beyond the arc. Marc Gasol added 23 points, nine rebounds, and six assists in the loss for Memphis, which had only nine players in uniform on Wednesday due to a slew of injuries.

The Pacers hit the road on Friday to face the Charlotte Hornets, then return to The Fieldhouse to host the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night on the second night of a back-to-back.

Turner's double-double was his first since Nov. 29, when he had 15 points and 10 rebounds in a loss in Houston.

Turner also had three blocks in the victory, his 16th game with at least three rejections this season.

The Pacers forced the Grizzlies into 18 turnovers, which they converted into 22 points.

Memphis had a decided advantage on the offensive glass, collecting 14 offensive rebounds to Indiana's eight, and outscored the Pacers 23-9 in second-chance points.

Selden's six 3-pointers were a new career high. He made five triples at New Orleans on Nov. 20.

The Pacers won despite an off night for Oladipo, who matched his season low with 13 points (previously set on Dec. 26 in Detroit) and also equalled his season high with seven turnovers (previously set on Oct. 29 against the Spurs).

"You've got to commend the Grizzlies for the way they played. That's a tough position, only having eight, nine guys out there. They showed a lot of heart and resilience. But at the same time, we've got to be able to put our foot down and put our foot on the gas and be able to get going from the jump against a team like that." -Turner

"We had to grind it out and figure out a way to win this game. I thought we started to get a little tougher on the defensive end of the floor. Offensively we made shots, made plays when we needed to, but we just have to do a better job of controlling the boards and rebounding the ball." -Pacers head coach Nate McMillan

"When you struggle on one end of the floor, you have to be good in the other end of the floor, so Coach can keep you in the game. He put me in the last five minutes and I get a steal, and that also helped me get an easy bucket." -Bogdanovic on his strong play on the defensive end

"You want everybody to be involved. We want everybody to contribute. Every single game, everybody has to come confident. Not just for this game but going to the next game. I thought we did a good job distributing the ball to each other and everybody got some good looks." -Collison on the Pacers' balanced offensive attack

"Effort like tonight is important, but at the same time we need to learn. We've got to take the right shot, make plays and understand what's needed in those situations and what kind of shots we're looking for. We need to do a better job of executing when we get into those winning opportunity situations and get the best shot possible." -Gasol

"It's frustrating. Looking for some consistency. He attacks the basket, puts himself in a position to be fouled, goes strong to the basket, didn't get the whistle. But we have to do a better job in those situations of keeping our composure." -Grizzlies interim head coach J.B. Bickerstaff on Selden's drive in the closing seconds

Bogdanovic topped 20 points for the first time since he scored 22 in a win in Orlando on Nov. 27. He had struggled mightily since then, shooting 31.5 percent from 3-point range in December and 27.5 percent in January prior to Wednesday's contest.

The Pacers visit Charlotte on Friday for their second game against the Hornets in four days. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET.

The Pacers return to Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday, Feb. 3 to host Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers at 7:00 PM ET. Find Tickets »