The best number, Nate McMillan believes, would prefer six. Not eight, as it used to be, and not four, as it is now.
Six preseason games would be enough to enable the Pacers' starters to conduct enough chemistry experiments to find a workable formula and enough to establish a bench rotation, but not so many as to induce boredom and complacency.
The Pacers play on Wednesday in Milwaukee, kicking off the NBA's new compressed preseason schedule that will allow the 82-game regular season to be aired out somewhat and reduce back-to-back sets. They'll follow with a game in Cleveland on Friday, in Detroit on Monday and at home against the Israeli national team on Tuesday.