Someone will get their initial victory of the season when the Indiana Pacers host the San Antonio Spurs on Friday in Indianapolis.
For two rebuilding teams that are likely to struggle to rack up wins this season, that would be an important first step.
The Pacers began their season with a 114-107 loss to Washington in Indianapolis on Wednesday, Indiana trailed from the jump, falling behind by 10 points in the first two minutes and never recovering while shooting just 40.2 percent from the floor.
Indiana will once again be without center Myles Turner, who hurt his left ankle in pregame warmups Wednesday when he stepped on someone’s foot.
“A freak accident,” said Turner, who was set to make his comeback after not playing in a regular season game since January because of an injury to his left foot. He is expected to miss at least one week.
The Pacers struggled near the basket in Turner’s absence, ending up with a 58-34 disadvantage on points in the paint and losing the rebound battle 53-42.
“We made, really, some very bad mistakes on switches throughout the game that gave Washington layup after layup,” Indiana coach Rick Carlisle said. “We’ve got to get that fixed. Our guys really competed. We made mistakes — a lot of them were at inopportune times — but our spirit was good, and we certainly can, and will, get better.”
Tyrese Haliburton’s game highs of 26 points and seven assists led Indiana in the setback. Bennedict Mathurin finished with 19 points off the bench in his NBA debut, with Buddy Hield and Jalen Smith each adding 16 points for the Pacers.
Hield grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds as the Indiana dropped its 11th straight game after losing its final 10 last season when it finished 13th in the Eastern Conference and missed the playoffs.
Things were not much better on opening night for the Spurs, who open a four-game road trip after a 129-102 home shellacking by Charlotte on Wednesday. San Antonio never led in the game, falling behind by 21 points at halftime and by 23 after three quarters before emptying its bench in the fourth.
San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said his team, the youngest in the NBA, has to take every game as a learning experience. The Spurs have six players on their roster who cannot legally drink.
“You start with the fact we got thumped, and you don’t avoid it, you don’t hide from it,” Popovich said. “We got our butts kicked. And from there, you can look to improve. You can’t act like it didn’t happen — that’s the most important part.”
Keldon Johnson led the Spurs with 20 points and 11 rebounds in the loss while Jakob Poeltl and Tre Jones scored 14 points apiece, Doug McDermott added 12 off the bench, Devin Vassell chipped in 11 and Josh Primo had 10.
“I know it’s the season opener, so there is a bigger microscope on it,” McDermott said after the loss. “The best thing you can do is turn the page on this one, just throw the box score away and get on the plane to Indiana and see what we can do there.”
Indiana beat the Spurs in both of the teams’ games last season, including a 131-118 decision in Indianapolis on Nov. 1, 2021.
–Field Level Media
