Paul Pierce has a rough outing in Indiana (3 for 15, 0 for 4 from three-point range) but manages the upper hand on this loose ball in the fourth quarter. (Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post)

Wednesday night’s meeting between the Washington Wizards and Indiana Pacers, a rematch of an Eastern Conference semifinal, had lost its luster. Since the schedule was compiled over the summer and the matchup was assigned a national television audience, the Pacers had suffered a debilitating four-month stretch and a massive roster makeover.

Despite having just one starter remaining from May’s playoff series and 10 healthy players available, the Pacers did not relent. The undermanned unit outrebounded, outhustled and slowed the Wizards into a grisly affair, but Washington, fueled by another strong defensive effort, prevailed, 96-94, in overtime at Verizon Center.

“They’re all not going to be easy, but the good thing is we got the win,” Wizards forward/center Drew Gooden said. “They’re not all going to be pretty wins. There are going to be some ugly ones, and tonight was ugly.”

The Wizards, winners of four straight, are 4-1 and off to their best start since beginning the 2005-06 campaign 5-1. They are three games over .500 through five games after needing 59 contests to accomplish the feat last season.

Point guard John Wall led the way with 31 points, 10 assists, six rebounds and three steals. He utilized his speed to torment the Pacers’ defense with penetration, which often resulted in kick-outs to open teammates on the perimeter, baskets at the rim or trips to the free throw line. He went 8 for 9 from the line and recorded seven of his points in overtime. The double-double was his fourth in five games this season; he had 29 double-doubles last season.

The Post Sports Live crew discusses Otto Porter's outstanding play and why the Wizards shouldn't worry too much during Bradley Beal's absence. (Post Sports Live/The Washington Post)

“I thought John was the one guy offensively who kept us going,” Coach Randy Wittman said. “When things would bog down a little bit, he got us an easy basket in transition or got somebody else an easy basket. Thirty-one and 10 is not bad. Not bad.”

Wall’s back-court mate, Garrett Temple, added 16 points, including four three-pointers. Center Marcin Gortat chipped in with a double-double, netting 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. But the Wizards were horrid on offensive otherwise. Paul Pierce scored 11 points on 3-for-15 shooting. Gooden shot 1 for 7. Otto Porter Jr. made just one of five shots. As a whole, Washington shot 37.4 percent from the field.

Yet rebounding was the Wizards’ biggest flaw. The Pacers gathered 57 rebounds, including 14 on the offensive end, to the Wizards’ 43 total and tallied 17 second-chance points. Wittman attributed the shorthanded Pacers keeping it close to the lapses on the boards and hustle plays.

“I just thought it was second-chance opportunities for them,” Wittman said. “I thought initially our half-court defense was pretty good. . . . The 50-50 balls, we got none. I just thought they beat us on the hustle points there.”

Wall’s counterpart, Donald Sloan, paced Indiana (1-4) with a career-high 31 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Chris Copeland contributed 19 points and a career-high 12 rebounds off the bench.

It was a rematch, at least on paper, of May’s Eastern Conference semifinal in which the Pacers won all three contests at Verizon Center en route to a six-game series victory. The recent history was the reason for the ESPN broadcast, the first of the Wizards’ 10 national television games this season after they had appeared on that stage just once since Thanksgiving 2010.

But a completely different Pacers team, decimated by a tumultuous offseason and costly injuries, arrived in the District. First, triple-double threat Lance Stephenson left the Pacers to sign with the Charlotte Hornets. Then all-star Paul George snapped his leg in half during a Team USA scrimmage and was ruled out for the season three months before it began. To complete the attrition, David West (ankle), C.J. Watson (foot), George Hill (knee) and Rodney Stuckey (foot) are nursing injuries and did not play.

Garrett Temple (16 points, seven rebounds, four assists in 42 minutes) is thriving while injured guard Bradley Beal convalesces. (Alex Brandon/Associated Press)

Ten healthy players were all that was left for the depleted Pacers, and they put up a fight. But the Wizards relentlessly hounded the overmatched Pacers. Indiana shot 38.9 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers. It is the recipe — defense masking offensive inefficiencies — the Wizards used in Tuesday’s rout of the New York Knicks. One night later, it wasn’t as pretty, but it worked again.

“Obviously, we’ve got to clean up some things,” Pierce said. “It’s not always going to be perfect, and that’s what we talk about. Sometimes you’ve got to find ways to win. We always talk about winning the rebound war, but tonight we got crushed on the rebound war and we found a way to win.”