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Late on November 9th, after losing to the Houston Rockets, the Cleveland Cavaliers were in deep trouble. Their record was down to 5-7 and their loss to the Rockets was the sixth in their last eight games. To makes matters worse, the loss in Houston was the first of a four-game road trip.
Everybody knew that the Cavaliers had a lot of new players on their roster that they were still integrating into the team. What was surprising about their slump at the beginning of last month was some of their losses came against teams like the New York Knicks, the Brooklyn Nets, and the Atlanta Hawks, all teams that were expected to pick in the 2018 Draft.
Fast forward to the first day of December and it looks the Cleveland franchise has everything figured out. Since being 5-7, the Cavaliers have ripped off ten straight wins but it's not like they have cruised to these wins. They have to struggle and persevere through tough situations.
What's been the difference? We list the five biggest reasons:
#5 Schedule and level of competition
Off these ten games, the Cavaliers played six on the road and four at home, so the results aren't based on whether they are playing at the Quicken Loans Arena or not. Six of the nine teams (they played the Charlotte Hornets twice) they played had winning records but you can't really judge the talent and competitiveness of a team so early in the season based on their record.
When you put aside the records, the Cavaliers should have lost only one of these games - the one against the surging Pistons in downtown Detroit but that they won convincingly. Every other team they faced, they were outmatching them on talent, momentum or experience.
Their opponents in this streak - Hornets, Dallas Mavericks, Brooklyn Nets, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, LA Clippers, Philadelphia 76ers and the Miami Heat - were all only going to win if the Cavaliers had dropped and not otherwise.
And the scary thing is, the team's schedule doesn't get any tougher. Their next four games are against the Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls, Sacramento Kings and the Indiana Pacers.
#4 Roster stability
As mentioned earlier, the Cavaliers were introducing plenty of new players to their roster at the start of the season. What made things worse and what eventually caused their early season struggles was injuries and that too to multiple players. They were unable to find reliable and stable rotations to field each game. Every second game, one of their key starters or rotations players needed a rest for recovery.
Over the past ten games, the team and the coaching staff have had a clearer picture of their rotation. A majority of their players (Derrick Rose, Iman Shumpert, Tristan Thompson) who were nursing niggles or sprains were going to be out for at least two weeks to a month.
#3 Bench unit stepping up
In last year's regular season, the Cavaliers were a -2.7 when LeBron James was on the bench for an average of 14 minutes per game. That number jumped -2.9 when James rested for an average of just 6.7 minutes per game during the 2017 Playoffs.
Those are not good numbers, to say the least, and it shows an over-reliance on the aging four-time league MVP.
This time around, the team's second unit is doing far better when the King is catching his breath on the bench, especially during their streak. A lot of the credit must go to Dwyane Wade, who's taken pride in leading the team's reserves.
In the young 2017-18 season so far, the Cavaliers are a +0.3 when James isn't on the court. That number shoots up when you filter the search to the team's last ten games. During their win streak, Cleveland is a +1.7 when James sits.
That's huge for a team that's trying to reduce the burden on their 32-year-old superstar.
#2 Defense
Since James returned, the Cavaliers have always been in the bottom 10 of the league when it comes to defense, other than their championship year in 2016. This year is no different, ranking 25th in the league with a defensive rating of 108.0.
However, similar to the bench numbers, there is a positive change in their defensive rating when the search is filtered to just their current streak. In their last ten games, the Cavaliers are ranked 6th in the league in defensive efficiency with a rating of 101.9.
It's not just their defensive rating. A lot of the defensive numbers have changed in the right direction, with the major ones being - Opponent's points allowed (102.3 - 12th, Overall - 108.8 - 25th), Opponent's FG% (44.3% - 6th, Overall - 46.5% - 21st).
#1 LeBron James
According to ESPN's Stats & Info, James will be entering December averaging at least 28.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 8.0 assists for the first time in his 15-year NBA career. If it wasn't for the team's slow start, James would easiliy be the frontrunner for this season's MVP race.
What he is doing at the age of 32 (soon to be 33), after 14 previous seasons in the league, has never been seen before. He's been the one thing the Cavaliers can depend on each night no matter where they are playing and no matter who they are playing.
According to ESPN, he ranks 11th in usage % with a 30.2% and leads the league when it comes to PER - Player Efficiency Rating - with a 31.29. Oh, don't forget, he's doing this while leading the league in minutes played.
He is undoubtedly the best player on the planet.
