You hear that? It's not Santa on the roof. It's not even your family bickering around the Thanksgiving table. It's the sweet sound of the NBA Cup ringing in the distance. A cup the Pacers came oh-so-close to seizing a year ago.

Will they take that next and final step this go around? The campaign starts tonight against Miami at home. The teams will be playing on a fresh new court. Less flashy than last year's version, but still very cool.

Not only that, they'll be wearing fresh new jerseys. Well not exactly new, they are basically the same as last year's City Editions. But since they were so popular, nobody seems to be complaining.

Tonight is the first game of a double-header with the Heat. Miami is 0-1 in Cup group play after losing to Detroit in overtime on Wednesday.

The Pacers, meanwhile, are looking to rebound after an ugly loss in Orlando. Miami and Indiana matchup fairly closely from an efficiency perspective, with both teams hovering around the middle of the pack on offense.

Miami's offense is more reliant on transition buckets than Indiana's. Oddly enough, the Pacers have been poor in transition this year. Perhaps that's the biggest tell that the verve that defined last year's team is missing from the current squad.

Injuries

Jimmy Butler is out. Woo hoo!

How to Watch

Tipoff is at 7:00 PM ET.

TV: FanDuel Sports Network, NBA League Pass

Radio: 93.5/107.5 The Fan

See ya in the comments!

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