The Indiana Pacers take on the Charlotte Hornets at Spectrum Center on Wednesday night in the 2021-22 regular-season opener for both clubs.

The Pacers finished last season with a 34-38 record, which was enough to qualify them for a play-in game spot. Indiana then throttled the Hornets by a 144-117 score in the first play-in contest before suffering a lopsided 142-115 defeat at the hands of the Washington Wizards to end their brief postseason run. Indiana went on to fire head coach Nate Bjorkgren after just one season and brought back Rick Carlisle, who'd helmed Indiana from the 2003-04- 2006-07 seasons. The Pacers will open the season with Malcolm Brogdon, Caris LeVert and Domantas Sabonis as their top offensive options, although LeVert projects to be sidelined for the first four games of the campaign. Myles Turner, Jeremy Lamb and T.J. McConnell should play key complementary roles, while T.J. Warren could also be an important contributor once he's cleared to return from his foot injury.

The Pacers will be without LeVert (back), Warren (foot) and Kelan Martin (hamstring) for Wednesday's contest. Brogdon (shoulder) will carry a probable tag, while Jeremy Lamb (wrist) and Justin Holiday (ankle) are listed as questionable.

The Hornets' 33-39 record during the 2020-21 regular season qualified them for the final play-in spot in the Eastern Conference before they were quickly dispatched by the Pacers, as noted earlier. Despite the poor won-loss mark, Charlotte retained James Borrego as head coach and returns the core of LaMelo Ball, Terry Rozier, Miles Bridges and Gordon Hayward. Miles Plumlee was added during the offseason to replace Cody Zeller, while offseason arrival Kelly Oubre and P.J. Washington will serve as high-quality depth on the second unit to open the campaign.

The Hornets will list Rozier (ankle) and Miles Bridges (knee) as probable for Wednesday's contest.

Wednesday's game marks the first of four meetings between the teams this season. The Hornets won the three-game 2020-21 season series between the teams by a 2-1 margin before falling in the play-in game to the Pacers.