National Basketball Association

Turner, Pacers take on Nets

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:00 p.m. ET

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NEW YORK -- By the end of his rookie season, Myles Turner had begun showing his potential for the Indiana Pacers.

If one game indicates anything, Turner appears ready to take the next step.

Turner will look to follow up his stellar opening night showing Friday night when the Pacers visit the Brooklyn Nets.

Over his last 35 games, Turner averaged 11 points and shot 47.4 percent while making 28 starts. On Wednesday, he began his second season by getting 30 points and 16 rebounds on 13-of-19 shooting during a 130-121 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks.

"Myles has had confidence since last season," Pacers coach Nate McMillan said. "He worked his behind off all summer. He's certainly a threat offensively, and he just continues to improve.

If Turner has similar games to Wednesday, the Pacers could meet the high expectations placed upon them following the acquisition of point guard Jeff Teague to go along with star forward Paul George.

"He's a confident kid," George said "One of his biggest attributes is he thinks every shot is going in. He was just itching, I know he was, floating on the perimeter. He was itching to get it."

George scored 25 points Wednesday while Teague added 20 in a game where Indiana shot 50.5 percent and made 10 of 19 3-pointers.

While the Pacers have been hyping a new offensive system and a revamped roster resulting in raised expectations, the Nets have been touting a new culture and grittiness to compensate for what most believe will be among the worst teams in the league.

The Nets began their fifth season with Brooklyn on their jerseys with a 122-117 loss at the Boston Celtics. Typical of many bad teams, they fell behind big before a late charge from a 23-point deficit fell short.

"Very pleased that we didn't give up and we kept on fighting," Brooklyn coach Kenny Atkinson said. "I liked our grit in the fourth quarter."

Bojan Bogdanovic scored 21 points, Justin Hamilton had 19 and Jeremy Lin added 18. Hamilton scored his points while Brook Lopez was limited to seven points in 21 minutes.

Brooklyn also is trying a new motion offense system which emphasizes ball movement and 3-pointers. The Nets had 22 assists and made 15 of 44 attempts from behind the arc, setting a team record for 3-point attempts

Lin and Lopez were not on the floor for the late comeback since the game appeared over. Brooklyn's biggest free agent signing hopes the Nets can have that kind of showing from the outset of their fifth home opener at Barclays Center.

"Starting with me and others, I want to bring the same effort Friday night, the way they did," Lin said. "That was inspiring."

Going back to last season, the Nets have dropped 11 straight games. Their last victory was a 120-110 home win over the Pacers on March 26 when Lopez scored 23 points and the Nets overcame 27 points by George.

Indiana has won eight of the last 11 meetings in the series and ended last year's season series with a 129-105 rout on April 10.

The Nets have won three of four home openers since moving from New Jersey. Atkinson will be the fourth coach in a home opener for the Nets since 2012 and the Long Island native will have several family members and friends in the crowd.

Friday also will mark the return of Thaddeus Young to Brooklyn. Young spent the last year and a half with the Nets before being dealt for rookie Caris Levert.