Pacers turn the page on last season, come back to beat Pistons for 1-0 start
It was a team effort that got it done on Wednesday against the Pistons, a division foe. The Indiana Pacers increased their fight in the second half, got stops and closed strong in a 115-109 road win.
The Indiana Pacers know for progress this season, they must make improvement on the defensive end. It’s among the things they emphasized in Orlando during the player’s only mini-camp, and reiterated at GM Chad Buchanan’s home gym the night before training camp began.
They have one of the NBA’s best offenses, but it takes both ends to succeed when it matters most in the postseason.
“The accomplishments of last year are really in the rearview mirror,” head coach Rick Carlisle said on Tuesday. “But they've raised expectations. So to meet those expectations, we've all got to raise our level.
“The teams that fight the hardest are gonna have the most success. The teams that fight the hardest and manage the margins of the game are gonna have an edge.”
The Pacers did not come out with that fight and attention to details Wednesday in their season opener. They fell behind 12-4, then trailed at the end of the first two periods.
The lackadaisical play in the preseason, leading to few big-picture takeaways, certainly carried into the start of their season in Detroit.
“We got a lot of positive things to look forward,” Tyrese Haliburton said leading up to Game 1. “I'm just glad the preseason is done man I'm ready to get to real games and get to get back to the flow of things I feel like I never really had any time off
“I'm excited to get right back in the swing of things and get going back with this group because we did something special last year. But we didn't reach our ultimate goal and we know what that ultimate goal is so we look forward to having another special years here.”
Now coached by J.B. Bickerstaff, the Pistons looked much improved and came out on a mission to start the season. They were physical and competed for everything. How would the Pacers respond?
Turns out, that was a positive.
After the slow start, they also had to overcome an early injury scare as James Wiseman, one of their few newcomers, suffered a non-contact injury with 75 seconds left in the opening quarter. This was after he was the first sub off the bench and had scored a quick six points.