Pacers huddle up after a practice session.
The Pacers complete their six-game preseason schedule Wednesday night up in Milwaukee (8:00 pm ET), the second time they will have faced the Bucks this month.
These two teams met one week ago at The Ford Center in Evansville, in what was a dominating Pacers’ victory, 101-83.
Because of a Myles Turner concussion before camp and Paul George dealing with an illness, Game No. 6 will be just the second time the starters will play significant time together in a game. This comes exactly one week prior to their season opener, at home against the Dallas Mavericks.
“We’re not resting anyone,” head coach Nate McMillan said. “We’ll play like we did our last game (in Orlando). Our last three games we’re looking to get that first and second group of guys, or 10 guys [in the] rotation, where the guys can get accustom with when they will come back into the game and not playing guys just the first and third quarters.
“Our starters will play first, second, third [quarters]. I don’t know if they’ll play the fourth, but I want them to get a rhythm for when they’ll be coming back into the game and I want to try to get a feel for when I’ll be substituting them. So, it’ll be the same type of rotation that we had in the Orlando game.
“I don’t think they’ll be playing 30-plus minutes, but it’ll be a similar rotation.”
LISTEN: Pacers Podcast: Preseason Talk
Eight different players have averaged double-figure points in the preseason, led by point guard Jeff Teague, who has averaged 14.4 points, 3.8 assists, and 3.4 rebounds per game. Rodney Stuckey has averaged 12.4 points per game, and power forward Thad Young has been good for 12.2.
This final exhibition game is not being televised.
Who we won’t see is guard Aaron Brooks and forward C.J. Miles. Brooks is managing soreness in his right knee, and Miles has missed most of camp due to left knee soreness. It’s unclear exactly what he’s dealing with and how long he might be out. Also, Kevin Seraphin has a sore lower back and he is questionable.
[Coach McMillan discussed Miles’ injury, and why he’s listed as day-to-day]
“We will play 10 [guys] for sure,” McMillan continued. “After that, I don’t know if we’ll get to 12 or 13. But we’ll definitely play 10.”
Fundamentals, defense, little play calling, and conditioning have been emphasize throughout camp. With one week until the start of the regular season, McMillan was asked to assess his team’s conditioning now three weeks into camp.
“Coaches are never happy,” he said with a big grin. “It’s training camp, and in order for us to be able to establish our style, our conditioning must be at a high level. So we got a lot of work to do.”
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