(AP) – Cleveland has won its first 12 games and is off to the best start in the league. There are 10 teams in the Western Conference with winning records. And somehow, only two teams in the Eastern Conference have winning records.

There is a common denominator on both sides of the ledger: everyone is hurt. At least that seems to be the case.

Joel Embiid, Paul George and Tyrese Maxey have yet to play together for Philadelphia. Khris Middleton did not debut this season for Milwaukee. Ditto for Kawhi Leonard with the Los Angeles Clippers. New Orleans — already without CJ McCollum and Dejounte Murray — is bracing for weeks without Zion Williamson, and the injury news got even worse Tuesday with the news that Jose Alvarado will be out for at least three weeks.

Orlando will miss Paolo Banchero for probably another 10 games, at least. Scottie Barnes is sidelined in Toronto. Phoenix’s Kevin Durant, Memphis’ Ja Morant and Miami’s Jimmy Butler will likely be out for a week or two. And now Oklahoma City faces months without Chet Holmgren, who missed what would have been his entire freshman season, then played every game last season, and is now out.

“On the one hand I know how to approach it, I know what to do, what not to do and how beautiful the other side is,” Holmgren wrote on social media after suffering the injury Sunday night. “But on the other hand, I felt the frustration of this process and the wear and tear it puts on your mind.”

By all accounts — also including the absence of San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich due to medical reasons — the first three weeks of this season have not gone well from an NBA health standpoint.

Many teams are exhausted before the start of the NBA Cup this week — the new name for what was called the in-season tournament a year ago when it debuted. Among Tuesday’s tournament games on the colorful courts: Dallas at Golden State, in Klay Thompson’s return to the Bay Area for the first time in something other than a Warriors uniform.

“For me, it’s just another regular season game in November,” Thompson said, downplaying what will certainly be more than that.

This will mean a lot to the Warriors. “We’ve had homecomings before,” Golden State star Stephen Curry said, “but nothing like this. … He deserves the celebration and the reception that will be given to him.”

For some teams – including Philadelphia (2-7) and Milwaukee (2-8) – perhaps the NBA Cup can be the springboard to a much-needed start to the season. The 76ers are getting Embiid back, which will obviously help. The Bucks have Giannis Antetokounmpo but will open the tournament Tuesday against Toronto without Damian Lillard, added to the injured list Monday night because he is in concussion protocol.

“I think you’ll see every team, regardless of their record, I think people will take this a lot more seriously,” Bucks coach Doc Rivers said. “First of all, I think they understand it now. I did a lot of interviews and was with a few guys in Vegas who made it (last year for the final four in the tournament) and didn’t get it. They didn’t even know how they got there. Now I think everyone kind of understands it.

The teams form a group of five, play the other four teams once, and the six group winners plus two wild cards advance to the quarter-finals. Win that and you’ll go to Las Vegas for the semi-finals. Indiana reached the Finals last year and it’s more than reasonable to say the Pacers learned something from that experience that propelled them to the East Finals last spring.

“Our guys got a real taste of what the elevated stage is like,” Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said at the time.

The Pacers entered Monday third in the East, but they lost James Wiseman and Isaiah Jackson to torn Achilles tendons early in the season, and are now without Aaron Nesmith and Andrew Nembhard.

No one, it seems, is immune to the injury bug. Not even the Cavs, who are off to a hot start with Max Strus out since the preseason with a sprained ankle.

But they more than endured, and other teams found a way to get through it on the penalty kill as well. Boston, for example, just played four games without Jaylen Brown; The reigning NBA champions, unsurprisingly, are off to a 9-2 start. Except for the Celtics and Cavs, all Eastern teams begin play Tuesday at .500 or worse.

The Magic haven’t been the same without Banchero. It will be a test for the Thunder to stay near the top of the West without Holmgren. These coaches – Orlando’s Jamahl Mosley and Oklahoma City’s Mark Daigneault – see the absences of their young stars as opportunities for others to move into advanced roles.

But no one wants to dig a hole too deep either. It’s early, but what happens now could make the difference for some teams when it’s time to fight for top seeds in April.

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AP Sports Writer Steve Megargee in Milwaukee contributed to this report.

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