Indiana Pacers coach Jim O'Brien, kneeling on a towel, closed his eyes, looked up at the roof and ran his hand through his perfectly combed hair.
Mike Dunleavy had just put the finishing touches on an uninspired Pacers effort when he drove the lane and missed an easy layup.
It was that type of game.
A five-day break didn't do the Pacers any good, as they put on a lackadaisical performance Sunday night in a 104-90 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies at Conseco Fieldhouse.
"This isn't new," Pacers point guard T.J. Ford said. "We've been struggling for a while now. It's been like this since we got back from the West Coast. We have to figure it out."
The Pacers (13-15) thought the time off would help them get back to playing with the passion they displayed earlier in the season.
But not even an extended break could help them.
The Pacers, 2-5 in their past seven games, played flat almost the entire night. They were 15-of-39 on shots in the paint. Twenty of those misses were from within five feet of the basket.
"We got good looks and they didn't fall," Pacers forward Danny Granger said. "We missed several layups and just didn't keep our head in the game. We've got to keep our heads in the game, help each other out and work for the whole time."
Granger led the Pacers with 29 points, but he needed 20 attempts to reach that total. Center Roy Hibbert's offensive problems continued; he started out 1-of-12 from the field and finished 5-of-17 for 14 points and 10 rebounds.
The Pacers' lone burst came from the second unit in the second quarter. They went on a 14-0 run to take a brief two-point lead.
The Pacers shot only 35.6 percent from the field and turned the ball over 14 times.
"If I had answers for tonight's game, I would share them with you, but I don't," O'Brien said. "I don't have the answer."
The Grizzlies continued their recent mastery of the Pacers by pounding the ball to Zach Randolph in the post and letting Rudy Gay score on the perimeter.
Randolph had O'Brien scrambling to find a power forward to defend him in the post.
The Marion product had 18 points and 16 rebounds while being defended by Josh McRoberts, James Posey, Tyler Hansbrough and Jeff Foster.
Gay had a much easier time putting the ball in the basket than Granger. Gay had 30 points, eight rebounds, five assists and five steals.
"We got off to a good start," Randolph said. "We came out and were aggressive. We were moving the ball and getting defensive stops. It's about ball movement and trusting and believing in each other."
The Grizzlies, who are 5-1 in the past six meetings against the Pacers, led for nearly the final 26 minutes.
"They played a sharper game than we did in most phases," O'Brien said. "We just got outplayed. I don't think we were sharp. You have games in the NBA season when you don't look sharp."
