![Myles Turner will take a larger role next season as he enters his second year. [Frank McGrath/PS&E]](https://i0.wp.com/www.vigilantsports.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Myles-Turner-fired-up.jpg?resize=654%2C435)
Myles Turner will take a larger role next season as he enters his second year. [Frank McGrath/PS&E]
The Pacers will play six preseason games, one fewer than they played in each of the last two preseasons. They had eight preseason games in 2013, which included one game in the Philippines and one in Taiwan.
With players in great shape and there really not being an offseason in The Association, teams, who set their own schedules, are cutting down on exhibition games. Instead, they much rather manage their players and spent time practicing.
That important practice time drops big time once the regular season tips — as it does for the Pacers on Oct. 26, at home against the Dallas Mavericks.
Media day is exactly one month early, on Monday, Sept. 26. Training camp then commences on Sept. 27, with head coach Nate McMillan directing a team for the first time in five seasons.
Pacers President Larry Bird revamped the roster this summer, adding six new faces to the mix. Those changes are highlighted by the addition of point guard Jeff Teague, power forward Thad Young, and veteran big Al Jefferson.
The first time this 15-man roster will take the floor will be on Tuesday, Oct. 4 down in New Orleans, where Solomon Hill now resides. They’ll play just one true home game at Bankers Life Fieldhouse: Oct. 6 against the Chicago Bulls.
Last preseason, the Pacers hosted a tune-up game in Fort Wayne — home of their D-League affiliate — in an effort to show off the team and bring an NBA game to another city in Indiana. Come October, the Pacers will face the Milwaukee Bucks in the Ford Center down in Evansville. That multi-use arena, which opened in 2011, is home to minor-league hockey and the University of Evansville basketball.
“I think it’s great any time we can take our team to different parts of the state and let our fans in these areas see us in person,” Bird said in a statement. “We take pride in being the ‘Indiana’ Pacers and look forward to going to Evansville. We think the fans there will like our team and our opponent, Milwaukee, is one of the young, talented teams that could be a playoff team this season.”
And while Indiana will welcome its former head coach, Frank Vogel, back to Indy in the first month of the season, one of its six preseason games is slated to be down in Orlando.
Single-game tickets for their lone home preseason game will go on sale at 10:00 a.m. on Sept. 8. Tickets for their date in Evansville will be first available on Aug. 19 at 11:00 a.m. ET at Ticketmaster.com, the Ford Center Ticket Office, or by calling (800) 745-3000.
