Indiana Pacers show they can have an elite offense in season-opening win

The Pacers scored 143 points on Wednesday night

Opening night in the NBA can lead to jitters. A whole offseason of work leads up to one highly-anticipated game, It's an important first impression.

For the Indiana Pacers, last night was opening night. It was their first game of a season that will feature expectations, something absent for the club since 2021. They want to take a step forward in the standings.

Before the game, things looked normal as players went through their pregame routine. On the court, players got shots up. Elsewhere, Jarace Walker was doing his normal prep, sitting at his locker with his headphones on while eating. Ben Sheppard and T.J. McConnell chatted and ate their pregame meal at a nearby table.

Internally, though, things weren't normal. At least not at first — there is always an extra feeling on opening night. "You get it here and there, but at one point, you've just got to realize it's just basketball," center Jalen Smith said of getting opening night jitters after the game. It was his fourth season opener, and by far his best.

Early in the game, Indiana had some nerves. They couldn't get stops, and thus couldn't play in transition as often. They are frequently at their best in the open floor. Their offense scored 13 points in the first six minutes of play, on pace to score just 104 points in  the game.

That isn't what the Pacers think they can be. "We're going to score, we've got the personnel to do that," All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton said during training camp. Their start didn't show it.

The rest of the game, though? Indiana was unstoppable. In the final 42 minutes, the Pacers scored 130 points. It hardly mattered what unit the blue and gold had on the floor, they could still score.

The starting lineup flew up and down the court. They put so much pressure on Washington's defense, and that led to openings all over the place. Bench units played a little more methodically, but they still didn't have trouble getting to their spots.

It was a dominant performance offensively by the Pacers, and it has them on top of the NBA in offensive rating after one night. Once the team got going, they couldn't be stopped.

"We played fast, everybody's running," Bruce Brown, who scored 24 points, said after the game. Indiana signed him back in July. "Our offense is so random, anybody can score the ball [any] night."

Brown was the leading scorer, and he was hot from deep. That was a theme for Indiana. They canned 20 of their 43 triples, good for 46.5%. They'll win most nights they shoot that well.

It's not reasonable to expect that level of accuracy every night. But the quality of looks they generated were impressive. The Pacers were able to make so many of their outside shots because they were open — Indiana has the third-highest percentage of shots classified as "wide open" by the NBA after one game.

Even if one is a skeptic about the Pacers shooting being sustainable, they did several other things effectively that are more repeatable. They kept their turnovers down, finishing with just two in the second half and 12 total. That gave them more chances to be efficient.

They also scored 143 points while attempting only 12 free throws. Indiana attempted 12 or fewer shots from the foul line just five times last season — that number should climb in future games. They won't make 20 threes every night, but they can take care of the ball and get to the foul line more going forward.

Indiana finished with 38 assists, a number they never reached last season. Their ball movement was crisp. "I think it speaks to who we are as a team as a whole," wing Aaron Nesmith said after the game. He believes the strong ball movement was a result of trust. Indiana is a close-knit group.

Haliburton, who led the way with 11 assists, agreed. "I just felt like the ball was moving. That's what we've tried to preach all preseason," he said. The All-Star guard liked that it led to balance. The Pacers had eight players reach double-digit points. That level of ball movement makes a team hard to defend, and the Wizards were constantly in rotation on the less glamorous end of the floor.

Washington doesn't project to be a good defensive team this season. But scoring 143 points against anyone is impressive, and the Pacers did it on opening night after overcoming pregame jitters. It was all the proof they, and rest of the league, needed that the blue and gold could be one of the top offenses in the NBA this year.

"We struggled, we were off-kilter. We were out of rhythm," head coach Rick Carlisle said of Indiana's early offense. He thought his team was thinking too much. Then, things turned around. "In the third quarter, [Haliburton] just went to work... he got our pace offensively into the game."

Even without Haliburton, Indiana's second unit was excellent. Andrew Nembhard had backup point guard duties, and he finished with 12 points and 10 assists. It was a total team effort for the Pacers.

"We've got to be a team that just comes at you in waves," Carlisle said of the team's depth after the game.

The Pacers will have to answer questions about the sustainability of that performance. Can they get that many open three-point shots every night? How do they look against a better opponent? Will their bench success maintain, and will their free throw rate climb? More will be discovered about the team as the season progresses.

But on opening night, despite a slow start, Indiana's offense was exactly what it was promoted to be. It could carry them to a better record this season.

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• Exclusive: Indiana Pacers forward Jarace Walker joins Under Armour: 'It means the world'. CLICK HERE.
• Source: Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle agrees to contract extension. CLICK HERE.
• Sources: Indiana Pacers and Aaron Nesmith agree to terms on a contract extension. CLICK HERE.
• Indiana Pacers crush Washington Wizards to open 2023-24 campaign. CLICK HERE.
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