Bruce Brown boosts Pacers offense as Indiana routs Washington 143-120 in record-setting opener

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.

Brown, a free agent who left the world champion Denver Nuggets, needed only one half to match his career high for 3-pointers (four). And he was hardly alone. The Pacers finished 20 of 43 from 3-point range, three short of the franchise’s single-game record for 3s made.

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.

The Pacers swung the game with an 11-4 run midway through the second quarter and used a 9-0 spurt early in the third to extend the lead to 89-72. They spent the rest of the night pulling away.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver stuck around to watch Indiana’s impressive opening night performance after announcing this season’s All-Star Game would switch to its more traditional East-West format and would get rid of the target scores. Indianapolis is hosting the game Feb. 18, its first since 1985.