NBA Game Summary - Memphis at Indiana

Indianapolis, IN (Basketball News) - Jermaine O’Neal scored 20 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, as the Indiana Pacers cruised to a 80-66 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Stephen Jackson chipped in 16 points and Anthony Johnson added 13 points in place of the injured Jamaal Tinsley, who missed his fourth straight game with a groin injury.

"We have three quality point guards. I need to play well when called on to show the coaches that I deserve some of the point guard time," Johnson said. "I am trying to take advantage of this now and tonight I tried to use my size and draw the defense in and get some open shots for my teammates."

Austin Croshere grabbed 11 boards for Indiana, which has won two straight games.

Shane Battier led the Grizzlies with 13 points and Pau Gasol added 11 points on just 2-of-12 shooting.

Damon Stoudamire tallied 10 points for Memphis, which has lost two in a row after a six-game winning streak.

Memphis scored just 27 first-half points and its 66 points were only four short of the lowest total posted by the franchise on November 8, 1995 at San Antonio.

Indiana scored the first five points of the contest, an indication of what would be a disastrous opening period for the Grizzlies.

O’Neal’s layup less than five minutes into the period gave the Pacers a quick 11-2 lead. After scoring the next four points, Memphis made just one more field goal, a three-pointer by Battier, the rest of the period.

Indiana outscored the Grizzlies 13-3 over the final 6:45 to take a 24-9 edge after one quarter. Jeff Foster scored five points during the stretch and Danny Granger added four points. Memphis made just 4-of-21 field goal attempts.

"We did not do what we were supposed to do. Our game plan was to start out the game with a lot of energy," said Gasol. "That’s something that you always want to do with a back-to-back situation especially coming in against a good team like Indiana. But we had no energy in the first quarter."

Memphis trimmed the deficit to 28-20 almost midway through the second period, but the Pacers went on an 11-2 run to take a 39-22 edge. O’Neal scored five points and Sarunas Jasikevicius capped the spurt with a short jump shot in the lane.

The Grizzlies shot just 25 percent in the half, as they made as many free throws (eight) as they did field goals. O’Neal’s 14 points led all scorers through 24 minutes.

The Pacers put the game on cruise control in the second half. Memphis got within nine, 47-38, but Indiana scored 12 of the next 14 points to take a 59-40 lead. Jackson capped the spurt with a deep three-pointer.

Indiana led 59-46 after three quarters.

Stoudamire’s three-pointer got the Grizzlies within 71-61 with just under four minutes remaining, but Memphis could get no closer.