Philadelphia 76ers (0-0) at Indiana Pacers (0-0), 7 p.m. (ET)
(SportsNetwork.com) - The Indiana Pacers and Philadelphia 76ers will kick off their 2014-15 NBA at Bankers Life Fieldhouse Wednesday amid very low expectations.
The Pacers were the Eastern Conference's best team last season and lost for the second straight year to the Miami Heat in the Conference Finals. Things took an ugly turn this summer.
Lance Stephenson, the enigmatic, but effective two-way wing player, bolted Indiana in free agency. He landed with the Charlotte Hornets, but the bigger missing piece is Paul George.
The All-Star perimeter player broke his leg in a violent, and disturbing, fashion at a scrimmage for Team USA before this summer's FIBA World Cup. George is expected to miss the season.
The Pacers were a wonderful defensive team in recent history, but offense has been hard to come by. Take George and Stephenson out of the lineup and scoring will be a challenge.
Head coach Frank Vogel, who got a contract extension before the season, wishes that was his only challenge. Starters David West (sprained ankle) and George Hill (knee contusion) will miss Wednesday's opener, as will backup point guard C.J. Watson, who has a bruised foot. Rodney Stuckey, the expected starter at the two guard, has a foot injury, but will give it a go against the Sixers.
"It's a neat challenge," said Vogel. "I think it's fun for guys to get to do things that they normally don't get to do. And the same for me as a coach, trying to put new guys (in) to get the same kind of results accomplished."
Roy Hibbert will still man the paint and the offense will have to run through him. His game tailed off badly as last season ended and through the playoffs.
Luckily for the Pacers, who still claim to be fighting for a playoff spot this season, they open the campaign with the Sixers in town.
Philadelphia has not been subtle in its rebuild. Winning games isn't as much a priority as developing its young core, although that core will mostly be absent on Wednesday.
Michael Carter-Williams, the reigning Rookie of the Year, is on the shelf after offseason shoulder surgery. Joel Embiid, taken third overall in June, has a foot injury and will most likely miss the season, and Dario Saric, who the team traded for on draft night, has a two-year contract overseas.
At least Nerlens Noel will play on Wednesday. He was acquired on draft night in 2013 and sat all of last season to heal from a torn ACL.
Surrounding Noel will be a rag-tag group of second-rounders, or journeymen. The team lists Tony Wroten, Alexey Shved, Henry Sims and Hollis Thompson as starters alongside Noel.
In fact, the two most NBA-tenured Sixers - Luc Mbah a Moute and Jason Richardson - are not with the team in Indianapolis. And long gone are the three professionals who started the season with the team in 2013-14 - Evan Turner, Spencer Hawes and Thaddeus Young.
"There will be some mistakes," 76ers head coach Brett Brown said. "We understand our resumes and stats don't mirror up. We're going to have some turnovers, from time to time. But it's going to be exciting because it's going to be up and down the floor."
The Pacers swept the Sixers last season and is 6-3 in their last nine as the host in this series.