TORONTO – The Indiana Pacers learned plenty about what it takes to win close games during last season’s playoff loss to Chicago. Now, with David West on their side, they’ve got another option for those late-game situations.

Danny Granger scored nine of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and the Pacers held on to beat the Raptors 90-85 on Wednesday, spoiling Toronto’s home opener.

Granger hit a key three-pointer with 1:14 left and West followed with a fadeaway jumper to help stave off a Toronto rally. West finished with 14 points.

“We have so many weapons down the stretch,” Granger said. “We have so many options. I think it’s going to be the mark of us being a good team.”

Paul George scored 18 points, and Roy Hibbert had 12 points and 10 rebounds as the Pacers improved to 2-0.

Darren Collison became the fifth Pacers starter to reach double figures by making a pair of free throws with 2.5 seconds left. He finished with 10 points and 12 assists.

Pacers coach Frank Vogel has told his team to take inspiration from last season’s Chicago series every time they go away from home this year.

“We treat it like a playoff game, quite frankly,” Vogel said.

DeMar DeRozan scored 16 of his 22 points in the fourth and Andrea Bargnani finished with 21 for Toronto.

HEAT 96, BOBCATS 95: In Charlotte, N.C., Dwyane Wade hit a bank shot over Gerald Henderson with 2.9 seconds left to lift Miami. LeBron James scored 35 points and Chris Bosh chipped in with 25.

Henderson led the Bobcats with 21 points, while D.J. Augustin had 20.

HAWKS 101, WIZARDS 83: In Atlanta, Joe Johnson led another balanced attack with 18 points to lead the Hawks. Tracy McGrady had 11 points off the bench to join Atlanta’s five starters in double figures.

Nick Young had 21 points and John Wall added 20 for Washington, which has lost its first two games.

CAVALIERS 105, PISTONS 89: In Auburn Hills, Mich., rookie Kyrie Irving had 14 points and seven assists to help Cleveland spoil Detroit’s first home opener with new owner Tom Gores.

Reserve Samardo Samuels scored 17 and Ramon Sessions had 16 points off the bench for the Cavaliers.

Detroit’s Ben Gordon had 25 points and rookie reserve Brandon Knight scored 23.

HORNETS 97, CELTICS 78: Jarrett Jack had 21 points and nine assists in his regular-season debut as New Orleans dominated in its home opener. Former Purdue standout Carl Landry added 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Hornets.

The Celtics are 0-3 for the first time since 2006-07.

THUNDER 98, GRIZZLIES 95: In Memphis, Tenn., Kevin Durant scored 32 points and James Harden added 20 as Oklahoma City remained undefeated. Zach Randolph finished with 24 points for Memphis.

SPURS 115, CLIPPERS 90: In San Antonio, Manu Ginobili scored 24 points and DeJuan Blair added 20 to lead the Spurs. Blake Griffin scored 28 points for the Clippers, while Chris Paul was held to 3-of-10 shooting and finished with 10 points.

TORONTO (AP) – Danny Granger scored nine of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and the Indiana Pacers beat the Raptors 90-85 on Wednesday night, spoiling Toronto’s home opener.

Paul George had 18 points, David West scored 14 and Roy Hibbert had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Darren Collison became the fifth Pacers starter to reach double figures by making a pair of free throws with 2.5 seconds left. He finished with 10 points and 12 assists.

Indiana, which beat Detroit at home on Monday, won for the seventh time in 11 games against Toronto, and snapped a streak of 11 straight victories by the home team in the series.

DeMar DeRozan scored 22 points and Andrea Bargnani had 21 for Toronto.

Jerryd Bayless scored 13 points and Amir Johnson had 10 rebounds for the Raptors, who won Monday’s season-opening game at Cleveland.

Indiana led by as many as 14 points in the fourth before Toronto rallied. A 3-pointer by DeRozan and three-point play by Jose Calderon cut it to 80-74 with 3:26 left, forcing the Pacers to call timeout.

Granger’s 3-pointer made it 83-75 with 2:19 to play, but Toronto wasn’t done. DeRozan hit a 3 and Bargnani followed with a three-point play, cutting it to 83-81 with 1:35 remaining.

Once again, a long-range shot from Granger gave Indiana some breathing room, with his 3-pointer from the wing pushing it to 86-81 with 1:14 left.

Calderon answered with a layup for Toronto but West’s fadeaway jumper with nine to play restored Indiana’s five-point cushion.

The Pacers led 38-34 at the half.

NOTES: Indiana outrebounded Toronto 41-39. … The Raptors made 19 turnovers while the Pacers had 16. … For the second straight game, Raptors backup C Aaron Gray was kept out as a precaution because of a rapid heart rate. … Pacers C Jeff Foster (back) did not travel with the team to Toronto. … It’s the first time since 2000 that the Raptors have lost consecutive home openers. They were beaten by the New York Knicks last season. … Canadian pop star Justin Bieber watched from a courtside seat.

Roy Hibbert had 16 points and 14 rebounds to help the Indiana Pacers defeat the Detroit Pistons 91-79 on Monday night in the season opener for both teams at the renamed Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

David West, Indiana’s big free agent addition, had 11 points and 12 rebounds, even though he made just 3 of 12 field goals. Tyler Hansbrough had 15 points and 13 rebounds and Paul George added 12 points.

Danny Granger, Indiana’s leading scorer last season, finished with 16 points on 6-for-18 shooting. The Pacers shot just 37 percent from the field, but got away with it because they outrebounded the Pistons 53-40. Indiana had 18 offensive rebounds and 14 second-chance points.

Jonas Jerebko and Rodney Stuckey each scored 17 points for the Pistons, who never led.

2010-11 record: 37-45

Head Coach: Frank Vogel

Key Departures: Josh McRoberts, T.J. Ford, Mike Dunleavy Jr.

Key Additions: David West, George Hill

Best case scenario: The Pacers build on their spirited 1st round performance against the Bulls, seamlessly integrate David West and George Hill into their frontcourt and backcourt, they run a lot of pick-and-pop with those two and ride the momentum Indy began to accumulate at the end of last season into at least one playoff series win.

Danny Granger reminds everyone why he was once thought of as one of the NBA’s best pure scorers and most underrated players.

More likely scenario: The Pacers do their best and win more games than they lose in the regular season, but end up not quite having enough talent or enough defensive chemistry to get past teams like the Celtics, the Heat, the Bulls, or even the Knicks or Magic in the first round, and lose a heartbreaking 1st-round series in 6 or 7 games. Then Larry Bird retires.

Prediction: 35-38 wins

Bird said he can afford to be extra careful because Indiana will be in a strong negotiating position again next year.

“It might be a slower process than our fans want it to be,” he said.

Bird says he wants to add pieces to a solid young core that features Danny Granger, Darren Collison, Roy Hibbert, Tyler Hansbrough, Paul George and newcomer George Hill. Of that group, only the 28-year-old Granger is older than 26. The Pacers for years have targeted a top scoring option to go with Granger and an elite power forward.

As players began to arrive back at their teams’ facilities across the league Thursday, Bird wouldn’t address the team’s rumored interest in Boston point guard Rajon Rondo and Utah forward Paul Millsap.

“Over the course of the next two or three weeks, you’re going to hear a lot of rumors, and there’s going to be a lot of things out there that’s going to have us right in the middle of a lot of it,” Bird said. “I wouldn’t believe any of it. We’ve talked to teams about players. We don’t like to talk about any other team’s players.”

General manager David Morway said the Pacers will be good, even if they don’t make a move.

“We don’t feel like we are in a position where we have to add a player,” he said. “We’ve got very good players right now at every position on this basketball team. We want to continue to add to this team, but we want to do it with diligence and with prudence.”

The Pacers made the playoffs last season and lost to the Chicago Bulls 4-1. Bird wouldn’t make a prediction about this season.

“You don’t know what to expect because of injuries and different things,” he said. “I know we’re a better basketball team than we were last year when we started, and I think we’re going to be even better after we get through this process.”

The process will be unique because there’s no preseason and the players have been working out on their own.

“It makes it a little bit more difficult, but we spent the summer preparing,” Morway said. “I think we have a good game plan, and we’re going to stay disciplined.”

Once the team is assembled, it will need to adjust to a new coaching staff. Frank Vogel had his interim tag removed in the offseason, and he hired Brian Shaw and Jim Boylen as assistants to go with holdover Dan Burke.

“I think they’re excellent,” Bird said. “I think Frank did a great job of going out and getting some guys that’s been on championship teams. They’re all on the same page. They’re excited about the team. They want to go to work.”

Bird said he’s happy there will be a season, not only for the Pacers organization, but for the local businesses that depend on the team.

“I can tell you there’s a lot of people out of work here,” he said. “I think it’s huge for downtown, and it’s big in a lot of other ways. I like to watch our players compete. I like what I do. But I also know that outside of this building, there’s a lot of people hurting because we’re not playing.”

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