NBA · GAME DAY
Indiana PacersAWAY
Memphis GrizzliesHOMEScheduled start passed · status unconfirmed · Official game details ↗
NBA · ARCHIVED PRIMER
The scheduled start has passed. This is the saved pregame primer, not live coverage or a result.
Coverage as of .
One game. Four ways in. Choose your read; the full primer adds the stories behind the headlines.
Memphis looks to respond to its first loss, a 135–134 overtime defeat despite Ty Jerome’s 40 points. Indiana nearly beat Atlanta with six players. Watch the number of possessions each team gets, and check the Pacers’ lengthy injury list rather than assuming Monday’s rotation returns.
Memphis is 6–1 after losing to New Orleans by one in overtime. Ty Jerome scored 40, but the Grizzlies attempted 10 fewer shots and committed 16 turnovers to the Pelicans’ eight. Indiana is 2–6 after a 108–104 loss to Atlanta with only six players used.
Jay Huff scored 22 and Braden Smith had 19 points with 10 assists. Today’s report still has Haliburton and McConnell out, with several other Pacers questionable. Watch who secures extra possessions; a good shooting night cannot be the only plan.
Jerome made five of six threes and scored 40 in Memphis’ first loss.
Indiana used six players against Atlanta; Walker played 45 minutes. Today’s availability is a separate question.
Both teams lost while taking fewer shots than the opponent: Memphis by 10 attempts, Indiana by 23.
Memphis no longer has a perfect record. Indiana’s last loss came with an unusually small rotation and a remarkably close score. The Grizzlies fell 135–134 to New Orleans in overtime; the Pacers used six players and lost 108–104 to Atlanta.
The records remain far apart—Memphis is 6–1, Indiana 2–6—but those results offer a shared question. How do you turn a competitive performance into enough complete possessions to win?
Ty Jerome scored 40 against New Orleans, making 14 of 22 shots and five of six threes. Cameron Boozer added 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists. Memphis had plenty of production even in its first loss.
Indiana got 22 points from Jay Huff, 20 from Quenton Jackson and 19 points with 10 assists from Braden Smith against Atlanta. Those were real contributions under difficult circumstances, not a guarantee that tonight’s rotation will look the same.
Indiana’s six-player game belongs to Monday. Today’s availability needs its own check. At 2 p.m. ET, Haliburton, McConnell, Sheppard and Furphy are out; Oubre, Toppin and Zubac are questionable, as are Brown, Slawson and Braden Smith.
Memphis lists Scotty Pippen Jr. out and Quinten Post questionable. Those designations matter more to tonight’s available combinations than simply carrying forward the lineup from the previous game.
Watch who earns the next shot attempt. Memphis took 91 shots against New Orleans’ 101 and committed twice as many turnovers, 16 to eight. A 40-point night from Jerome could not erase that possession gap.
Indiana faced an even larger attempt difference: 80 shots to Atlanta’s 103. The Pacers shot well enough to stay close, but fewer chances leave less room for an ordinary shooting stretch.
Jarace Walker played 45 minutes against Atlanta. Smith produced 10 assists, while Huff led Indiana with 22 points. The box score puts numbers on how much responsibility a tiny rotation had to carry.
For Memphis, Cam Spencer added seven assists and 13 points against New Orleans. If the defense crowds Jerome, follow whether the next creator gets the ball early enough to do something useful.
Neither team needs another reminder that a strong individual performance can coexist with a loss. The more useful lesson is about finishing the whole possession: keeping the ball on offense and securing it after a stop.
Our viewing preference is to count a few clean possessions rather than wait for another scoring explosion. Can Memphis reduce the giveaways? Can Indiana keep the opponent from collecting substantially more attempts? Those improvements are easier to identify than a vague demand to play harder.
Ask this before tipoff: would you rather start with Jerome’s 40 points or remove the 10-shot deficit Memphis faced? The answer changes what you watch.
For Indiana, check the active players first. Monday’s six-man effort is a compelling story, but today’s injury designations are the relevant guide to who might be asked to repeat it.
At 2 p.m. ET on November 4, Indiana lists Haliburton, McConnell, Sheppard and Furphy out; Oubre, Toppin and Zubac questionable, along with Brown, Slawson and Braden Smith. Memphis lists Scotty Pippen Jr. out and Quinten Post questionable. Source
Pregame snapshot; pending and uncertain availability is identified in the primer.
Manual editorial review: . This page does not update player availability automatically.