Falling in love with a team during the preseason is as ill-advised as flying off to a wedding chapel in Las Vegas with someone you met by the pale light of a 3 a.m. jukebox. That’s especially true in the NBA, where they tend to take the word “exhibition” quite seriously.

Still … if you are as hungry for success (or even the hint of success) the way Knicks fans are, it can be understandable to fall first, fall fast and ask questions later. That can lead to some interesting things. There was a minute, you may remember, when Landry Fields looked like he might be one of the best sleepers in Knicks history because of a fine preseason.

Fields last played in the NBA in 2015.

So yes: we can agree that three preseason games, against the Pacers (twice) and the Pistons, don’t provide cause for making any kind of judgment.

That doesn’t mean you can’t like what you see.

And here was a substantial takeaway from the Knicks’ first preseason loss of the season, 109-100 to the Pacers on Wednesday night at Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse: You are officially allowed to keep your eyes open when the Knicks are on the offensive end this year.

That may seem a modest goal but, then, preseason basketball is all about modest goals. It’s also true that the Knicks seem eager to buy into the notion of moving the ball, hitting the open man — all the good stuff that we apply to the very best angels of this sport.

“When we did what we’re supposed to do, good things will happen,” Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau said. “We have to do it together.”

Much of that can be credited to the arrival of Jalen Brunson, a legit point guard who didn’t play his best game at Indiana, but still mostly ran the offense with a professionalism and a poise that is diametrically opposed to anything we saw last year.

So far, Julius Randle seems all-in to this new order, and he played well in the first half, 10 points and five assists and precious few — if any — forced possessions. RJ Barrett really does look to have taken another step forward. And big-man import Isaiah Hartenstein is the clubhouse leader to become the next Garden favorite, a slick passer out of the post with a willingness to take (and ability to hit) the open 3.

What does that mean in the long term?

Look, nothing has much changed since the beginning of training camp. The Knicks do not belong with the Bucks, Celtics and 76ers elite in the East, or the Nets, Hawks and Cavaliers secondary tier, certainly not yet.

And Thibodeau was grumpy after the loss, unhappy with the way the Knicks’ second unit had squandered the game, unhappy with the team’s defense in general, unhappy with the effort of a few unnamed players.

“We have to do it with both groups,” he said. “We can’t have lulls.”

But there is clearly room to improve, especially if the key components of the team remain as committed to this plan, as they seem to be so far. There was no Derrick Rose for the Knicks and no Quentin Grimes, and without them the reserves were torched by the Pacers.

But the ball moves. It finds open men. Six different Knicks, playing about half a game apiece, had three or more assists. And the result of that was a far less cluttered offense than what we’ve grown used to. The starters helped the Knicks score 33 first-quarter points. The offense looked like a functioning NBA offense. It’s a start.

Where does it go from here?

“In every game,” Thibodeau said, “you’re going to learn something.”

That’s the beauty of it. Starting Wednesday, the games count for real and we’ll see if the Knicks can answer the bell.

If they can …

Maybe it won’t be love, not yet. But Knicks fans could be bitten by a hard case of like. That’s a start, too.