Back to the struggle in Memphis

The visiting Pacers lost to the Memphis Grizzlies 82-71 Saturday night. The Pacers fell to 51-19 while the Grizzlies are now 40-28.
Forethoughts
The Pacers played so well against the Bulls on Friday night, that there was some hope they could repeat the effort in Memphis. And the Grizzlies had something to do with this, but the points were a struggle in this one for the Pacers. With the exception of losing track of one player, the defense overall wasn't terrible. However, with two of the league's better defensive teams facing off, you would expect this to be a bit of grind-it-out, no-easy-shots, down-to-the-wire battle. But it just didn't happen that way. I wouldn't consider this game a disaster because Memphis is good and is a difficult team to beat at home. But it would have been nice to see them keep this thing close going into the final two minutes instead of struggling to score a season-low 71 points.

Lance Stephenson was one of the few
bright spots for the Pacers Saturday night.

The Ups
1) Lance Stephenson continued his solid play as of late. He was one of the few bright spots offensively as he had 15 points, eight rebounds, four assists and no turnovers. Stephenson didn't make any spectacular plays in this one as he has done at times this season, but he was solid throughout. Stephenson has hit 52 of 99 shots in the last eight games.
The Downs
1) I swear, if I see Evan Turner go under a screen one more time and then see his guy stop and hit the shot before Turner get back to him, I'm going to jump through the TV and tackle him. I understand that this happens on occasion, but it's a regular occurrence with Turner when he's on the floor. He needs to be reminded, and maybe in a harsh way, that he cannot only not afford to take a game off now, but he cannot take a possession off either.
2) Ditto No. 1 with Paul George when it comes to seeing him talk to the referees after not getting a foul call he thinks he deserves/
3) At one point in this game, the Pacers had zero fastbreak points and the Grizzlies had 16 (It ended 18 to 7). The Grizzlies are not a fastbreak team, so to see this happen on a night after the Pacers had played so well against the Bulls was a bit discouraging. And maybe the most discouraging thing defensively was that the Pacers lost track of Mike Miller in the second quarter when he hit four 3-pointers to help extend the Grizzlies lead into double figures. It's not as if Miller's game is a mystery. When he's in, his job is to shoot from long range because he's one of the best in the game at it and has been doing this for years. He certainly got the best of the Pacers in this one.
Next Up
The Pacers turnaround and play Chicago in a 8 p.m. game. The Bulls defeated the Sixers on Saturday to improve to 39-31. And since the Bulls lost at Indiana Friday night, you know they will be looking for some revenge in this one. The Bulls are led by former Pacers reserve point guard D.J. Augustine at 14 points and five assists per game, Carlos Boozer at 14 points and 8.5 rebounds, Taj Gibson at 13 points and six rebounds, Jimmy Butler at 12.9 points, Joakim Noah at 12 points, 11.5 rebounds and five assists and former Pacer Mike Dunleavy at 11.2 points. The two teams split games in November, each winning at home, before the Pacers won on Friday in Indianapolis.