Brooklyn @ Indiana preview

Last Meeting ( Feb 3, 2017 ) Indiana 106, Brooklyn 97

The Indiana Pacers are trying to find a new face of the franchise after sending disgruntled forward Paul George to Oklahoma City in a trade over the summer. The Pacers welcome back only five players from last season's opening night roster when they host the Brooklyn Nets in the 2017-18 opener on Wednesday.

George helped drag Indiana to the playoffs last season but made it clear he had no interest in re-signing when his contract was up, leading the team to send him to the Thunder for a package that included former Indiana University star Victor Oladipo, who will start in the backcourt alongside point guard Darren Collison as two of the team's three new starters. "With a new team it takes a while," Collison told reporters. "Only time can tell. Even the best teams, it takes them awhile to jell. I don't expect to come right out of the gates playing together right away." The Nets are in a similar spot with three new starters and highlighted their offseason with a big trade as well, sending franchise cornerstone Brook Lopez to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal that brought back former No. 2 overall pick D'Angelo Russell. Brooklyn could be in line for an even bigger upheaval for the franchise with owner Mikhail Prokhorov reportedly trying to sell the team.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, YES (Brooklyn), FS Indiana

ABOUT THE NETS (2016-17: 20-62): Brooklyn finished with the worst record in the NBA last season, and Prokhorov is reportedly trying to fetch a sale price of $2 billion. "We cross that bridge when the time comes," general manager Sean Marks told the New York Post of a prospective sale. "For the time being its business as usual, and until I’m informed otherwise I’m going about the vision we started out trying to get to, and the necessary strategic steps along the way. That’s the way we’re going to conduct business here from the coaching staff, the front office and so forth. Mikhail and I have open conversations about this, so there’s no sort of surprises and so forth." Business as usual for Marks over the summer included bringing in veteran forward DeMarre Carroll and swingman Allen Crabbe to a roster he hopes will make the Nets competitive.

ABOUT THE PACERS (2016-17: 42-40): Indiana is changing the offense with George, Jeff Teague and Monta Ellis gone, and 21-year-old center Myles Turner figures to take on a bigger role. "The ball stopped a lot last year," Turner told the team's website. "We had some guys who could take (defenders) off the dribble, and I thought we relied on that too much. Too much one-on-one play. This year I feel we're moving the ball a little better so far. The offense isn't going to be as stagnant this year. There's not going to be too much isolation basketball." Turner will be joined in the frontcourt by another 21-year-old, Domantas Sabonis, who came over with Oladipo in the George trade and is a skilled passer.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Pacers SF Glenn Robinson will miss three-to-four months after undergoing ankle surgery last week.

2. C Timofey Mozgov will take Lopez's place as Brooklyn's starter in the middle.

3. Indiana SG Damien Wilkins, 37, made the team out of training camp after being out of the NBA for the last four seasons.

PREDICTION: Pacers 111, Nets 99