ATLANTA — The offensive tempo and the point total were exactly as Indiana Pacers coach Jim O’Brien wanted them.

But the Pacers’ supposed new defense was nowhere to be found in the Atlanta metropolitan area Wednesday night.

The Pacers showed not much has changed on the defensive end as the Atlanta Hawks picked them apart and took advantage of their turnovers, handing Indiana a 120-109 season-opening defeat at Philips Arena.

“It’s going to be the same as last year unless we decide we want to play defense,” Pacers forward Troy Murphy said. “We have to really take care of that.”

The Pacers have stressed — verbally at least — the importance of being an improved defensive team, because any kind of success they have this season depends on how well they take pride in slowing their opponent.

The Hawks, coming off a second-round playoff appearance last season, shot 53 percent from the field and scored at least 29 points in three of the four quarters.

The Pacers shot 53 percent, including 63 percent when they trailed at halftime.

It shouldn’t be surprising the Pacers struggled defensively. They gave up nearly 111 points a game in the preseason.

“Anytime you shoot 53 percent, make 10 3s and shoot 84 percent from the foul line, you should have a pretty good performance,” O’Brien said.

If the Pacers are going to make defense optional again this season, they should at least protect the ball so they can have more offensive possessions..

They turned it over 25 times, which led to 32 Atlanta points. Led by Dahntay Jones’ six turnovers, seven Pacers turned the ball over at least twice.

“We need to take care of the basketball,” O’Brien said. “It’s the mantra you’ve been hearing from day one. We think we can score against most people, but you have to take care of the ball and you have to defend. We didn’t do either one of those things adequately.”

O’Brien, who had drawn red circles around each player’s turnover total on the final box score, warned his team about Atlanta’s aggressive defense before the game.

The Pacers weren’t strong protecting the ball and they committed careless turnovers, like not looking upcourt before throwing an outlet pass.

The Hawks scored 16 points off six Pacers turnovers during a 37-point second quarter.

“We’ll never win like that,” said Granger, who scored a game-high 31 points after being questionable due to a bruised heel. “We just turned the ball over repeatedly. We gave them the ball more times than we had it. That pretty much equals a recipe for a loss.”

The Hawks used the Pacers’ miscues to turn a one-point game into a 10-point lead, 81-71, midway through the third quarter.

Not pleased with his team’s effort, O’Brien went to the bench and brought in five reserves to try to provide a spark.

The Pacers took a 101-100 lead on an Earl Watson 3-pointer from straightaway early in the fourth quarter.

O’Brien rode Watson and Jones over starters T.J. Ford and Brandon Rush most of the second half. Watson and Jones had 20 and 17 points, respectively.

The Hawks ran off 10 straight points to take the lead for good.

All-Star Joe Johnson led all five Hawks starters in double figures with 25 points. Al Horford dominated the Pacers’ frontcourt during a 24-point, 16-rebound performance.

“Defense and turnovers did us in,” Watson said.

“We still had a chance. It’s discouraging, but you also have to understand how close we are. It’s a mental adjustment, but a loss is a loss. They all hurt the same.”

Hawks 120, Pacers 109

[chart]
|||FG|FT|Reb||||
|PACERS|Min|M-A|M-A|O-T|A|PF|Pts|
|Granger|34:19|10-18|6-8|0-4|1|3|31|
|Murphy|37:23|6-9|0-0|1-10|7|1|14|
|Hibbert|25:15|3-6|0-0|2-9|3|3|6|
|Ford|23:08|1-9|1-2|0-2|3|1|3|
|Rush|19:16|3-3|0-0|0-0|3|1|6|
|Foster|15:51|0-0|2-2|0-4|3|5|2|
|Watson|24:52|7-8|3-4|0-1|1|4|20|
|DJones|26:29|4-9|9-9|2-5|0|4|17|
|SJones|17:31|1-3|0-0|1-4|1|2|2|
|Head|15:56|4-8|0-0|0-1|1|2|8|
|Totals||39-73|21-25|6-40|23|26|109|
[end chart]

Percentages: FG .534, FT .840. 3-Point Goals: 10-18, .556 (Granger 5-10, Watson 3-3, Murphy 2-3, Ford 0-1, Head 0-1). Team Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: 25 (32 pts). Blocked Shots: 4 (S.Jones 2, Granger, Hibbert). Turnovers: 25 (D.Jones 6, Murphy 5, Hibbert 3, Rush 3, Granger 2, Head 2, Watson 2, Foster, S.Jones). Steals: 1 (Granger). Technical Foul: S.Jones, 1:11 first.

[chart]
|||FG|FT|Reb||||
|Atlanta|Min|M-A|M-A|O-T|A|PF|Pts|
|Williams|31:14|4-8|5-6|0-4|0|4|14|
|JosSmith|35:12|7-10|4-7|0-3|8|4|18|
|Horford|33:31|11-17|2-3|3-16|4|3|24|
|Bibby|30:43|4-7|0-0|0-4|5|1|10|
|Johnson|39:23|10-21|3-4|0-0|6|2|25|
|Crawford|13:36|1-3|1-1|0-0|3|4|3|
|Pachulia|16:29|1-4|2-4|1-1|0|1|4|
|Evans|15:08|4-5|3-3|1-2|0|2|12|
|Teague|13:56|2-7|0-0|1-3|4|2|5|
|J Smith|10:48|2-5|1-1|2-2|0|2|5|
|Totals||46-87|21-29|8-35|30|25|120|
[end chart]

Percentages: FG .529, FT .724. 3-Point Goals: 7-12, .583 (Bibby 2-3, Johnson 2-5, Evans 1-1, Teague 1-1, Williams 1-1, Crawford 0-1). Team Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: 11 (13 pts). Blocked Shots: 6 (Horford 2, Jos.Smith 2, Williams 2). Turnovers: 10 (Johnson 4, Bibby 2, Williams 2, Horford, Jos.Smith). Steals: 16 (Jos.Smith 5, Johnson 4, Bibby 3, Williams 2, Crawford, Teague). Technical Foul: Horford, 7:00 fourth.

[chart]
|Indiana|32|33|29|15|—|109|
|Atlanta|29|37|29|25|—|120|
[end chart]

A—17,998 (18,729). T—2:25. Officials—Mike Callahan, Olandis Poole, Zach Zarba.