Falling somewhere between poor execution and growing pains, the Indiana Pacers and their inability to secure momentum left the door open for the Detroit Pistons to spoil their home opener. It was the first opening game loss for the Pacers since 2015, though short of last year’s dominating win against Memphis, Indiana had to earn those previous opening night wins. They failed to do so tonight.
From the outset, the Pacers played as if they were under construction, going scoreless for the first four minutes and taking over 23 minutes before finally breaking through into the lead.