NBA Notes: Cavs, Donovan Mitchell, Rockets, Tari Eason, Pacers

Cavaliers

Donovan Mitchell isn’t sweating the standings. Cleveland pushed for the top seed last season and still fell short of the Finals, so Mitchell told D.J. Siddiqi of VideoGamer.com the Cavs are keeping the focus on timing rather than trophies in December.

“That’s it — playing well at the right time,” Mitchell said.

He added that every team wants the No. 1 seed, “1,000%,” but last year proved that health and momentum matter more than the line at the top of the bracket.

“Would I love to be the No. 1 seed? Sure,” he told Siddiqi. “But if we’re not, am I going to be panicking? No. As long as we’re playing our best basketball at the right time, that’s all that really matters.”

Rockets

Houston will be without forward Tari Eason for at least a month. Head coach Ime Udoka told reporters that Eason has been diagnosed with a strained oblique and is expected to miss four-to-six weeks.

The injury originally appeared to be a right hip contusion before further testing revealed the oblique strain.

It’s the latest setback for Eason, who played all 82 games as a rookie but has since battled injuries in consecutive seasons.

When available, the 2022 No. 17 pick has been a major piece for Houston. He was off to a strong start this fall, averaging 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds on .517/.531/.714 shooting in 10 games.

Pacers

Indiana’s battered rotation absorbed another hit when Aaron Nesmith suffered a left knee sprain on Thursday.

He has been ruled out for Saturday’s matchup with Toronto, but head coach Rick Carlisle the Pacers believe they “dodged a bullet,” per Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star.

Nesmith was injured in Phoenix after getting tangled up with teammate Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.

The 25-year-old is off to the best offensive season of his career, averaging 15.5 points per game, and has taken on a larger scoring load with Indiana missing seven players entering Thursday’s loss.