Myles on a Mission: Turner scores 40, but Pacers fall to 0-2 after another one-point loss

“We’re two possessions — one possession in each game — from being a 2-0 basketball team," Carlisle said. "The margins are very, very slim.”

Turner played 44 minutes and recorded his first double-double of the season.

The last few days didn’t sit well with Myles Turner. He couldn’t get the season opener out of his head. Nine points in almost 26 minutes and among the eight Pacers who played, he was on the court the least in the decisive fourth quarter.

Just 3:14 in all and he wasn’t in there late when they needed a stop or a bucket — and they lost by one in Charlotte. That served as his motivation for Game 2 of the season Friday night in Washington DC.

“I just think the best players in this league are able to find motivation in something,” he said. “I hear people talking, I hear fans talking sometimes. I think that’s kind of what got me going tonight.”

The Pacers center was a man on a mission from the jump. He played pissed off and finished with a Monster Myles game: 40 points on 15-of-22 shooting, both career highs. He grabbed 10 boards and blocked three shots. And it started with 16 points in the first quarter and 24 by halftime.

He averaged less than 13 points per game last season.

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“I was disappointed in the way I played in the first game,” Turner said. And so he did something about it. “(It was) finding something to piss myself off. I wanted to start hot, I wanted to get myself out of the gates strong — and that’s what that was.”

Mission accomplished. However, it was all a waste in the end.

The Pacers’ defense remains a deep concern, especially against the Wizards. They won all four games last season against the Pacers and by an average of 140 points, including a play-in game. This one went into overtime and for the second straight game, the Pacers were edged by one point.

“It’s frustrating,” Turner said. “From a personal standpoint, this is something that I want people to get accustom to. I think it’s the way I can play night in and night out.