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The Indiana Pacers needed every bit of their 12-0 lead to open the game against the Orlando Magic, but held on despite a late Orlando surge to win 97-87 to win the first game of the season. The Magic came back despite the immediate deficit to hold a halftime lead behind a big half from Andrew Nicholson, but the Pacers offense got rolling, outscoring the Magic 57-43 in the second half.
Paul George opened his season with a 24 point effort, going 8-16 with six rebounds, five assists, and three blocks. The Pacers had 18 blocks on the game, led by Roy Hibbert with seven, to go alongside eight points and 16 rebounds. Hibbert left the game late with a non-contact knee injury, but appeared to be okay when the buzzer sounded. Lance Stephenson had 19 points, seven rebounds, and five assists and David West had 13 points, five rebounds, and five blocks.
Orlando Johnson led the bench with nine points and Luis Scola followed with eight as the Pacers bench helped to extend the second half lead after a sluggish first half. Rookie Victor Oladipo out of Indiana had 12 points in his NBA debut with Purdue standout E'Twaun Moore scoring six.