INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Bruce Brown scored 24 points and made a career-high six 3-pointers in his Pacers debut, leading revamped Indiana to a record-breaking 143-120 victory over Washington on Wednesday night.
It was the highest scoring total for a season opener in team history, surpassing the 140 they had against Brooklyn in 2017. Indiana fell two points short of setting the franchise scoring mark for points in a home game.
All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton had 20 points and 11 assists as eight Pacers had double-digit scoring totals.
For Washington, it was an ugly start to the post-Bradley Beal era. While The Wizards led 39-34 after one quarter, they fell apart offensively over the final three and got overstretched defensively.
Kyle Kuzma scored 25 points and Jordan Poole added 18 as Washington was 9 of 24 on 3s.
MAGIC 116, ROCKETS 86
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Cole Anthony had 20 points and eight rebounds, and Orlando beat Houston in the season opener for both teams.
Anthony went 8 for 12 from the field and played 24 minutes in a reserve role. Franz Wagner scored 17 points for Orlando, and Paolo Banchero finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.
Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks each scored 14 points in their first game with Houston. Center Alperen Senguin added 14 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
HORNETS 116, HAWKS 110
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — P.J. Washington scored 25 points, rookie Brandon Miller provided a huge spark with eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter and Charlotte held on to defeat Atlanta.
Terry Rozier added 24 points for the Hornets and LaMelo Ball shook off a rough first half and finished with 15 points and 10 assists. Mark Williams chipped in with 13 points and 15 rebounds for Charlotte.
Trae Young had 23 points to lead the Hawks, but shot 1 for 9 from 3-point range. Jalen Johnson had a career-high 21 points.
CELTICS 108, KNICKS 104
NEW YORK (AP) — Kristaps Porzingis made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 1:29 left and scored 30 points in a strong Celtics debut, Jayson Tatum had 34 points and 11 rebounds and Boston defeated New York.
Porzingis finished with eight rebounds and four blocked shots against his original NBA team, showing why his new one is considered one of the NBA Finals favorites after acquiring the 7-foot-3 center and Jrue Holiday during the offseason.
Holiday scored nine points. Derrick White had 12 for the Celtics, and Jaylen Brown had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.
RJ Barrett and Immanuel Quickley each scored 24 points for the Knicks, who started slowly but opened the fourth quarter with a 13-2 run to take their first lead of the game. They couldn’t hold on against one of the NBA’s best teams.
RAPTORS 97, TIMBERWOLVES 94
TORONTO (AP) — Dennis Schroder scored 22 points in his Toronto debut, O.G. Anunoby had 20 and the Raptors gave new coach Darko Rajakovic a victory in his first game by beating Minnesota.
Scottie Barnes had 17 points, Pascal Siakam added 15 and Jakob Poeltl grabbed 11 rebounds for the Raptors.
Anthony Edwards had 26 points and 14 rebounds, and Rudy Gobert added 15 points and 13 rebounds, but Minnesota lost its 19th straight north of the border.
Karl-Anthony Towns finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Mike Conley scored 11 for the Timberwolves. Towns shot 8 for 25, going 2 of 10 from 3-point range.
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