INDIANAPOLIS - When Indiana Pacers coach Rick Carlisle was told Reggie Miller will miss four to six weeks with a broken left hand, he couldn't help but think the worst.

"Hopefully they won't tell me six to eight weeks tomorrow," Carlisle said.

After a disastrous preseason, his pessimism is certainly warranted.

Miller became the third Indiana starter to go down with an injury when he broke a bone in his non-shooting hand in the first quarter of the Pacers' 98-79 loss to the Denver Nuggets Friday.

The 39-year-old left clutching his left hand, the latest in a growing list of injuries for the defending Central Division champions.

"Obviously, now it's a great thing that we have an extra two-guard over there," Carlisle said, referring to Stephen Jackson and Fred Jones.

Indiana is already without Jermaine O'Neal (strained ligament in left foot), Jeff Foster (hip), Anthony Johnson (broken hand), David Harrison (shoulder) and Jonathan Bender (knee).

Carlisle said Friday that O'Neal might miss the regular-season opener next week, while Foster and Johnson are expected to be sidelined six to eight weeks after initial estimates had them both missing four to six weeks.

The Pacers are hoping Harrison and Bender will be ready for the opener on Wednesday at Cleveland.

Carlisle was asked if he'd ever coached a team with this many injuries this early in the season.

"Probably not this many," Carlisle said. "This is tough. This is what teams go through."

Nene had 17 points and four rebounds for Denver. Earlier in the day, the Nuggets said they picked up his $3.04 million option for next season.

Rodney White scored 16 points, and Francisco Elson had 10 points and 10 rebounds to help the Nuggets finish a franchise-best 7-1 in the preseason.

The Nuggets forced 24 turnovers, held the Pacers to 38 percent shooting and outscored them 42-34 in the paint.

"We feel good," Nuggets point guard Andre Miller said. "We've got some guys back from injury. We've played well."

Looking to avoid similar injury problems, Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik sat starters Carmelo Anthony, Kenyon Martin and Marcus Camby.

Carlisle would have been wise to do the same.

Now Jackson, who was acquired in a trade with Atlanta for Al Harrington, will start in Miller's place and Jones will get more minutes off the bench.

"There's only one way to respond," Jones said. "We have to go out there and start winning games. We just have to go out and do our thing. We'll just switch the roles around."

With Jackson, a scorer and clutch shooter, the Pacers should not miss much of a beat without the aging Miller, the team's career leading scorer.

But the Pacers will miss Jackson's offensive output and veteran experience off the bench.

"We're going to have to make some changes based on the situation we're in now," Carlisle said. "We're going to have to be a precise team in the short term."

All the injuries put more pressure on Ron Artest, the team's second-leading scorer last season, to come through on both ends of the floor, which is just fine with him.

"We're going to be fine," said Artest, who had 24 points, seven rebounds and three steals against the Nuggets. "I'll make sure we'll be all right."