Myles Turner scored 30 points and pulled down 16 rebounds in a season-opening win for the Pacers Wednesday night.

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - So let’s start with the good news: The Pacers lit it up in their season opener, scoring 130 points in a 130-121 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks. And they’re going to continue to light it up, continue to have lots of nights when five players score in double figures, when they shoot 51 percent and 53 percent from behind the 3-point arc. The Pacers, who now fancy themselves as the Golden State Warriors on training wheels, are poised to average more than 100 points per game for just the fifth time in their last 22 seasons.

Now let’s get to the bad news, and to deliver that bad news, I hand the mic to point guard Jeff Teague, who had moments of offensive excellence (20 points, eight assists) and moments of defensive ineptitude.

“On defense, I sucked,’’ he said.

Um, yes, he did.

And so did the Pacers in general, continually getting lost on rotations, the most glaring failure coming when Harrison Barnes was left free to drain a wide-open three-pointer with 2.3 seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime.

Maybe this uneven but ultimately satisfying effort was meant an homage to the run-and-gun ABA Pacers and the fact that this is the 50th year of the franchise’s existence. Or maybe they want to fill some bellies, knowing that whenever they score 90 points or more, fans will earn half off their next Papa John’s pizza order. Or maybe, just maybe, they’re not a very good defensive team this year, and will continue to play lots of games when they score well north of 115 points and give up well north of 115 points. If the latter is true, if this continues, assistant coach/defensive guru Dan Burke will have to be talked off a ledge.

Time will ultimately tell, but to hear the Pacers tell it, this defensive atrocity was an aberration, that they simply fell prey to a three-point-shooting flurry and a super-small lineup that often featured Dirk Nowitzki and four guards. At various points in the game, Myles Turner (and more on the budding star later) was forced to cover Harrison Barnes, a noted perimeter player. The Mavericks shot 48 – 48! – 3-point shots, the second most in NBA history.

“We won’t see this type of team too often,’’ Turner said. “But it’s good that we did get to see them this early.’’

In the end, though, there was Turner, the precocious 20-year old, bailing the Pacers out with one of the finest performances of his young career. Check out this stat line: 30 points on 13-of-19 shooting, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots. And remember, this is a guy who missed a portion of training camp while recovering from a concussion. Did I mention he’s 20 years old. Twenty!

“He’s really playing himself back into shape and into rhythm, (learning) our sets and our style of play,’’ head coach Nate McMillan said.

And that’s scary.

There’s a lot to like about Turner, his disposition, his intelligence, his unwavering desire to improve, but you love this the most: He’s fearless. With the game on the line at the end of regulation, it was Turner rising up and shooting a deep three to win it. He missed, sending the game into overtime, but you appreciated the fact that he didn’t defer, that he didn’t hesitate. And then in overtime, with the Pacers clinging to a 119-118 lead, Paul George navigated his way toward the basket, kicked it out to Turner on the wing and the kid hit a three-pointer to give Indiana some breathing room.

In due time, Turner will be an All-Star. But even more than that, he will grow into one of this franchise’s pillars, and will give George all the reason he needs to sign an extension and be this generation’s Reggie Miller, a Pacers lifer. That’s really the point of this whole season: To show George, a free agent at the end of next season, that he has a chance to compete for a championship here in Indiana. The Pacers’ star hasn’t signed an extension yet, even though the Pacers are ready to get it done right this minute: The new collective-bargaining agreement will mean more available money for everybody, and especially for a man who figures to be the most desired free agent on the market.

So he’s going to wait. And watch.

And it’s fair to assume, he’s going to like what he sees.

In Turner, George has a Robin to his Batman. Then throw in a dynamic point guard – although Teague struggled Wednesday – plus a solid nucleus and a deep bench that figures to play better than it did against the Mavericks, and the Pacers figure to be a 50-win-plus, top-four seed in the Eastern Conference.

“He’s a confident kid,’’ George said of Turner. “One of his biggest attributes is he thinks every shot is going in.’’

After the game, Turner asked media-relations man David Benner, “How many minutes did I play?’’

Benner produced a box score. “Thirty eight,’’ he said.

Turner shook his head and smiled. “I’ve never played 38 minutes in a game in my life. Not in college, not in the pros, never.’’

Get used to it, young man.

If this team is going to be as good as it can be – and I’m saying that nobody improved their team as much this offseason as the Pacers – then Turner is going to have to continue to grow the way we all expect him to grow. Keep in mind, he played the power forward spot most of last season while Ian Mahinmi played the `5.’ This year, he’s the center of attention.

“It’s amazing because of the biggest things about being that young is, you’re the most coached player in the world,’’ teammate C.J. Miles said. “Everybody’s got so much input. You want to do what the coaches tell you. You’re playing with veterans, so you’re listening to what they tell you. The phone is ringing and everybody is telling you how you should be playing. And then you’ve got your own mindset of what you want to be as a player. But now he’s got that year under him and another training camp. He just keeps growing.’’