Domantas Sabonis shot 13 of 15 from the floor for a career-high-matching 32 points and the Indiana Pacers led the Memphis Grizzlies wire to wire in a 134-116 rout Tuesday in Indianapolis.
The Grizzlies, who were playing for the second consecutive night, saw their winning streak end at seven games.
When Justin Holiday made the first of 16 Pacers’ 3-pointers 15 seconds in, Indiana was off to the races.
The Pacers grew their lead to as many as 15 points in the first quarter, then used a 17-7 run over the final 5:34 of the second quarter to take a 21-point advantage into halftime.
The Grizzlies offered little resistance in the second half. Indiana’s red-hot shooting of 59.8 percent from the floor on the night and 55.2 percent from 3-point range combined with stifling defense in the blowout.
Indiana held Memphis to 45.2 percent shooting from the field, aided in part by Myles Turner’s five blocked shots. The Pacers leveraged their harassing defense into a 42-36 rebounding advantage, with Sabonis’ 13 leading the way.
The double-double was Sabonis’ 19th on the season in 21 games. Turner also posted a double-double with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Indiana’s Malcolm Brogdon finished with 23 points and seven assists. Jeremy Lamb shot 5-of-7 from 3-point range and scored 19 points.
Doug McDermott and Holiday added 11 and 10 points, respectively, for the Pacers.
Dillon Brooks, who finished with a team-high 25 points, was the lone Grizzlies scorer in double figures until the fourth quarter.
Desmond Bane scored 16 points for Memphis, which got 12 apiece from Xavier Tillman, Tyus Jones and De’Anthony Melton. Indiana’s defense successfully harassed Grizzlies star Ja Morant into 2-of-10 shooting from the floor and four turnovers en route to just 10 points.
The Grizzlies’ Jonas Valanciunas and Grayson Allen remained sidelined due to the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
–Field Level Media