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For three quarters, the Pacers looked athletic, aggressive and confident, albeit lacking on defense. In the fourth, however, they looked young and inexperienced as the veteran-laden Spurs blew open a close game and cruised to a 122-109 victory before 18,581 in the AT&T Center in San Antonio Wednesday night.
IMPACT
The Pacers lost their seventh in a row to the Spurs overall and their ninth straight in San Antonio and dropped to 0-1 in their season opener. San Antonio improved to 13-1 in season-openers during the Tim Duncan era.
QUOTEWORTHY
- “I thought we competed and then their stars turned it up a notch in the fourth quarter and we did not have an answer for it. We turned the basketball over too many times. We were minus 19 in points from points scored off of turnovers. Other than turning the ball over, I thought we did what we wanted offensively. We had good games from (Roy) Hibbert, (Danny) Granger and (Darren) Collison but we just didn’t have enough to beat this team.” -- Pacers Coach Jim O'Brien
- “Our main focus now is turnovers. We knew before the game that if we turned the ball over, especially 23 times, that we were going to lose. That’s the way it is as we simply can’t turn the ball over that many times. That’s going to be our biggest challenge this year. ” -- Pacers forward Danny Granger
- “Offensively, I started to get going but overall I really felt like I let the team down. I let Tim [Duncan} get going in the fourth quarter as that is what led them to make their run. Offensively, I feel like I’m coming into my own but defensively I need to get better. I was scoring but that doesn’t mean I need to give up easy baskets.” -- Pacers center Roy Hibbert
- “It’s all about our defense. We have to have a defensive identity. They scored 44 in the second half that’s what it was all about." -- Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich
- "They shot the ball incredibly well in the first half. Even the shots we did contest, they seemed to knock every one of them down. We got a little more focused and closed in on them more so their shots were a little tougher and more contested." -- Spurs forward Tim Duncan
KEY MOMENTS
After a remarkably fast-paced first half the Spurs led 66-65 as both teams shot better than 55 percent and neither offered up much in the way of defensive resistance. San Antonio threatened to pull away a few times and led 54-45 midway through the second quarter but Roy Hibbert sparked a 17-7 run with 10 points as the Pacers rallied to take a 62-61 lead late in the half.
Hibbert continued to score effectively in the opening minutes of the second half, scoring eight of the Pacers' first 17 points as they took an 84-81 lead but when Hibbert went to the bench to rest, the offense faded and the Spurs struck quickly with eight in a row to take an 89-84 lead.
The Pacers chipped away and had the chance to tie, trailing 95-93 with 10:36 left in the game when Mike Dunleavy stepped to the line but he missed both and would prove to be Indiana's last chance. San Antonio put together another quick run, this time 15-2, as the Pacers went 4½ minutes without a bucket and fell behind 110-95 with 6:28 remaining. They trailed by double digits the rest of the night.
BY THE NUMBERS
Hibbert was one shy of his career high with 28 points on 10-of-17 shooting, adding nine rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots. Danny Granger scored 26 on 10-of-19 shooting but had just four rebounds and committed four turnovers. Darren Collison had 19 points and seven assists and Josh McRoberts had 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks. T.J. Ford was the only reserve to contribute much with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting. The Pacers were outscored 32-13 on turnover points and 32-17 on bench points. Indiana Shot .532 overall and outrebounded the Spurs 36-35.
Tim Duncan shot 10-of-12 and scored 23 for the Spurs, adding 12 rebounds, four blocks, three assists and three steals. Manu Ginobili scored 22 and Tony Parker 20 with nine assists. Richard Jefferson and George Hill had 16 apiece and rookie James Anderson scored 10. The Spurs shot .506 overall and had 29 assists against just 14 turnovers.
CONVERSATION
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