3 Major takeaways from Pacers win vs. Wizards on Opening Night

The Indiana Pacers 2023-24 season has officially begun, and what a way to kick off the new season indeed!

After two straight years of losing their season openers, the Indiana Pacers came out guns blazing against the Washington Wizards to kick off the season, finishing the night with a 120-143 blowout win over Jordan Poole and company.

This win comes after a pretty promising preseason where the Pacers went 2-2 and won their final two games with impressive performances from Obi Toppin and others.

While the Wizards were expected to finish near the bottom of the league by many, they actually gave the Pacers a good scare at first, leading after one quarter 39-34. However, the second quarter was when Indiana took over and never looked back.

The Pacers continued their scoring onslaught in the second half, outscoring Washington 37-28 in the third quarter and 33-24 in the fourth quarter en route to a 23-point clobbering in front of the Gainsbridge faithful.

The crowd was awesome throughout the night, cheering the Pacers on every step of the way and getting a much-welcome boost from former Pacers All-Star center Roy Hibbert himself.

Hibbert led a crowd of 16,004 strong as they cheered the Pacers on to a rousing opening night victory against the Wizards. Many things stood out during this victory, almost all positive, but some are things to be wary of going forward, as Indiana gave a taste of what you can expect from them going forward.

Three things, in particular, stood out as the Pacers tried new things, scored a lot of points, and made some interesting lineup choices on the part of Rick Carlisle en route to a rousing opening night victory.

So, without further ado, let’s get the three takeaways from the Pacers’ season opener against Washington.