NBA Notes: Cavs, Kenny Atkinson, Rockets, Alperen Sengun, Pacers

Cavaliers

The Cavaliers are taking a hard look at their rotation after the bench struggled badly in Sunday’s four-point loss to Detroit, writes Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.

The Pistons flipped the game in the second quarter and never trailed again, exposing a second unit that has yet to find consistency this season.

“We gotta look at it,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said. “Obviously, it wasn’t the right combination. The bench play hurt us.”

Cleveland’s reserves were a strength a year ago, led by Ty Jerome, who departed in free agency. This season, the Cavs rank among the league’s least productive benches.

“Maybe we keep two of our stars out there at the same time,” Atkinson said. “We’ve gotta help them. We started Sam (Merrill) tonight and that obviously hurts the bench. We just gotta figure it out. It’s definitely hurting us in those minutes.”

Rockets

Rockets center Alperen Sengun will be reevaluated later this week and is expected to miss approximately 10 to 14 days, head coach Ime Udoka said, via sideline reporter Vanessa Richardson.

Sengun suffered a lateral right ankle sprain just over a minute into Saturday’s loss at Dallas and was ruled out shortly thereafter.

The 23-year-old has been central to Houston’s success. In 27 games entering the weekend, Sengun was averaging 22.6 points, 9.3 rebounds and 6.7 assists while anchoring the offense.

The Rockets sit at 21-11, good for fifth in the West and just a half-game behind the Lakers.

Pacers

New Indiana Pacers big man Micah Potter is still drawing confidence from a rare experience last summer.

Potter was one of 12 players selected for the USA Select Team that scrimmaged against Team USA ahead of the Paris Olympics and stayed on as a practice player during the exhibition tour.

“That was, hands down, the coolest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Potter told Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “You look around and see all those names, it’s incredible. You see how those guys prepare, mentally and physically.”

Potter said simply being on the floor with that group helped him reset his own expectations.

“You learn to gain confidence,” he said. “You realize you belong.”