Absent Oladipo, Pacers turn attention to Grizzlies

The Indiana Pacers are saying all the right things, but a better sense of how they feel now that Victor Oladipo has been lost for the season because of injury will be better known when they hit the road Saturday.

Pacers players were given the news Thursday that they already anticipated, learning that Oladipo's ruptured quad tendon in his right knee would keep him out for the rest of the season. The injury occurred in Wednesday's 110-106 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Life without a player in the midst of an All-Star season begins Saturday on the road against a Memphis Grizzlies team that has been fading fast in the Western Conference. The Grizzlies have lost eight consecutive games and 14 of their last 15, while the team is reportedly listening to trade offers for star players Mike Conley and Marc Gasol.

By the looks of it, the Pacers at least have an easy landing spot in their first game without Oladipo.

"We're just thinking now, today and tomorrow, come in here and get better, try to figure some things out with new rotations and lineups," Indiana forward Domantas Sabonis said. "We'll come out and fight. Do it for him. Do it for us."

Oladipo might not be on the floor, but the Pacers are still looking toward him while trying to maintain their spot near the top of the Eastern Conference standings. The Pacers enter Saturday's game third in the Eastern Conference at 32-15.

"Just to see a guy so positive, that meant so much to us as a teammate go down, at this part of the season, this is definitely a tough part of the season where we are going to need him," Thaddeus Young said. "But we can't look back and be sad. He's going to want us to be happy and positive. Just continue to lift him, because he's going to continue to lift us."

The Grizzlies are in need of more than moral support at this point. Friday's 99-96 defeat to the Sacramento Kings was the third time in the last four games they failed to reach the 100-point mark.

The only team worse than Memphis in the Western Conference is the Phoenix Suns, leaving the team to consider a rebuild using fan-favorites in Conley and Gasol to bring in fresh faces.

"When you're in a win-loss results business, the losses pile up and they weigh on you," Grizzlies head coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. "You have to find a way to find the positive and keep perspective. The perspective is each game is a new day. The last game has nothing to do with tomorrow's game. You have to find a way to keep digging and keep pushing."

In nine January games, Conley is still averaging 18.6 points, close to his 20-points-per-game average on the season, and had a 31-point effort against Charlotte on Wednesday, his second 31-point showing in a span of 11 games. Gasol has struggled with a recent back issue, but put up 22 points in back-to-back games before scoring just 11 on Friday.

The Pacers might have the injury that rocked the NBA, but the Grizzlies know all about the struggles to put together a healthy squad. Guard Dillon Brooks (toe) is out for the season, while forwards Chandler Parsons (knee) and Kyle Anderson (ankle) are out indefinitely. Guard Garrett Temple (heel) and center Joakim Noah (personal reasons) returned to action Friday.

--Field Level Media