Myles Turner had 20 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocks as the visiting Indiana Pacers spoiled J.B. Bickerstaff’s first game as Detroit’s head coach by topping the Pistons 115-109 on Wednesday in the season opener for both teams.
Pascal Siakam had 19 points, eight rebounds and nine assists and Bennedict Mathurin also tossed in 19 points for Indiana, which overcame a 12-point second-half deficit. Tyrese Haliburton had 15 points, and T.J. McConnell chipped in 14.
Cade Cunningham led the Pistons with 28 points and eight assists. Jaden Ivey had 17 points, and Tim Hardaway Jr and Malik Beasley supplied 14 points apiece. Jalen Duren contributed 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Tobias Harris added 13 points.
The Pistons led 58-49 at halftime. Harris topped the Detroit in scoring with 13 points during the first two quarters, and Beasley provided 10 points off the bench.
Haliburton shot just 2-for-10 from the field before the break and missed all five of his 3-point attempts. Indiana didn’t have a lead of more than three points prior to halftime.
Hardaway knocked down two 3-pointers in the first minute of the third quarter to give Detroit a 64-52 advantage. A flurry from Turner cut the Pistons’ lead to five points as he scored 11 points in a two-minute span — a three-point play, two 3-pointers and a midrange jumper.
Indiana took the lead 76-75 on a Haliburton jumper with 3:39 left in the third. The Pistons regained the advantage 80-78 on a pullup 3-pointer by Cunningham.
Ivey scored five points in the last 1:04 of the quarter and Cunningham finished it with another trey, giving Detroit a 90-82 lead.
McConnell scored three straight baskets to pull the Pacers within 96-93 with 9:47 to go. Haliburton’s layup with 8:04 left gave Indiana a 99-98 lead.
Both teams went scoreless for more than three minutes before Siakam hit a jumper for a 103-100 Indiana lead. His dunk with 2:29 remaining extended the lead to six points.
Duren made two free throws with 42.5 seconds left to pull the Pistons within 110-107.
Haliburton answered by sinking a 3-pointer with 20.8 seconds to go, and he added two clinching free throws with 8.1 seconds left.
