Cleveland Cavaliers Finally Starting to Live Up to Title-Level Expectations

You know the old cliche about the NBA season being a marathon and not a sprint?

Well, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers are reminding everyone why a winner isn't crowned at the midpoint.

It isn't the simple fact that the Cavs have seemingly pulled a 10-game winning streak out of thin air. Although, given what this team had dealt with before—this run was preceded by nine losses over a 10-game stretch—it's hard to gloss over a performance that carries historical relevance, per ESPN Stats & Info:

But the real story here, the one that without question hints at even better days still lying ahead, is the manner in which this team has rattled off those victories.

It would be one thing if Cleveland was overwhelming its opponents with offense. Between James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love alone, the Cavs have the horses to do just that.

While their offense has been boiling hot lately—114.9 points per 100 possessions from Jan. 15 to Jan. 30, the second-highest mark over that stretch—the really remarkable scoreboard numbers are coming from the opposite end of the floor.

Entering Saturday, Cleveland had kept its last seven opponents below the century mark. During those games, the Cavs surrendered only 93.3 points per night on 40.1 percent shooting from the field. That was the fifth-lowest scoring average and best field-goal defense over that period.

Prior to these seven tilts, Cleveland had been sitting 17th in opponent scoring and 29th in field-goal percentage against.

"Our offense is not necessarily dictating our defense," Irving said, via Cavs.com. "It’s the other way around. That’s the way it has to be, especially if we want to win ballgames. Our defensive intensity is keeping us ahead or within reach of teams, and we close out the game."

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As with any other element of the game, good defense requires good defensive talent. And the Cavs certainly helped themselves in that department with two key transactions.

First, they bolstered their perimeter ranks by plucking the long, athletic Iman Shumpert from the New York Knicks in a three-team deal that sent Dion Waiters to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Then, Cleveland turned its attention to its pillow-soft interior by prying 7'1" bruiser Timofey Mozgov from the Denver Nuggets for a pair of first-round picks.

Shumpert, who's still working his way back from a dislocated shoulder suffered in December, had only averaged 18.2 minutes over his first five games with Cleveland. But the minimal role didn't keep him from showing the type of major impact he can have on this team.

Coming into Saturday, the Cavs were allowing only 97.4 points per 100 possessions with him on the floor, the same defensive rating posted by the league-leading Golden State Warriors. Individually, Shumpert had held his matchup to 18.2 percent shooting from beyond 15 feet—18.3 percent lower than those players shoot on average.

Part of that stems from Shumpert's own defensive gifts. But another literally huge aspect of it is having an insurance policy like Mozgov around the rim. That frees up Cleveland's other defenders to hug tighter on their assignments, and as ESPN.com's Dave McMenamin explained, it has allowed coach David Blatt to revamp his defensive scheme:

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Without giving away the farm, the change was explained by a person familiar with the Cavs’ defense as Cleveland now 'downing' side pick-and-rolls (also known as 'icing' or 'bluing') and forcing the ball handler toward the baseline, where there is a defender waiting and taking up that space. The Cavs used to 'show' on side pick-and-rolls, asking the defender down low to come up to the point of the screen to try to disrupt the action with his presence before hastily retreating back to the lane. The new scheme doesn’t ask for as many constant rotations out of the Cavs, though it does allow the ball handler to get closer to the hoop, which presents its own challenges.

"

Before, the Cavs were vulnerable on the interior, and they knew it. They had to stop dribble penetration at all costs, even if it meant opening passing lanes and forcing themselves to make multiple rotations, all of which had the potential to come a second late.

But now, Cleveland can play a more aggressive brand of defense that isn't so reliant on help. The Cavs know they have a mountain in the middle, so they can put more pressure on an offense and always stay in position to make a play on the basketball.

Personnel alone doesn't make a great defense. It takes a cohesiveness throughout the roster and a commitment from all players to pursue the same goal.

The Cavs seemed a bit fractured earlier this season. Players were tuning out Blatt's messages, per ESPN.com's Brian Windhorst. James' defensive effort waned. Waiters pleaded on the court for more touches and pouted when they didn't come.

This looked like a group of individuals. But over the last few weeks, those individuals became a team. And an aesthetically pleasing one at that, as Grantland's Zach Lowe observed:

"We’re a different team roster-wise, and we’re a much more together unit with our new guys and with our originals that have really picked it up and raised their level," David Blatt said, per Bob Finnan of The News-Herald.

The Cavs are playing for one another, and the results have started looking like what everyone expected from this on-paper power.

The pieces fit like a puzzle.

Shumpert and Mozgov have immensely improved the defense and provided as much offense as needed. J.R. Smith has been the catch-and-shoot contributor the Cavs needed Waiters to be. Coming into Saturday, Smith had averaged 5.8 catch-and-shoot three-point attempts and converted those looks at a 38.7 percent clip since joining the Cavs.

"The way we scramble, the way we hustle, it’s my type of game," said Smith, per Joe Gabriele of Cavs.com. "We play up and down. It just seems like a perfect fit."

More importantly, Cleveland's superstar trio is starting to find its collective rhythm.

That starts with James, who has dominated since his two-week sabbatical to heal a few nagging injuries. Over his last 10 outings, the King has tallied 29.9 points on 50.7 percent shooting, 6.3 assists and 6.3 rebounds per night.

"I'm feeling good right now," James said earlier this month, per McMenamin. "I'm shooting the ball well. I'm efficient, and I'm scoring the ball really well. My teammates are putting me in great positions to do that."

It's a mutually beneficial exercise for those teammates. When James is going well, it enhances the production—and even the appearance—of the guys around him.

"When LeBron dominates, everyone gasps at Kyrie’s playmaking instead of scoffing at his decision-making," wrote Grantland's Andrew Sharp. "It looks like Kevin Love is finding his role instead of floating to nowhere. Suddenly David Blatt is getting control instead of losing it. That’s the power of the best player in the world."

Irving has been spectacular throughout this stretch. His double-nickle outing is the extreme example of his surge, but he's sandwiched strong play around that outburst and tossed in 26.0 points on .511/.514/.837 shooting his last 10 times out.

Love's transition has hardly been smooth, but he erupted for a badly needed 23-point, 10-rebound performance in Cleveland's 101-90 win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday.

Consistency will be key for Love going forward, because he hasn't had much of it this season. The same could be said of the Cavs, who have had three separate winning streaks of at least four games and three losing streaks that went at least three.

Time will reveal the identity of Cleveland's sudden surge. It could be another hot stretch that eventually chills, but perhaps this will prove sustainable.

For now, the Cavs have to hope for the latter. This has been an all-or-nothing season since James rejoined the ranks, and that status has only been further cemented by the franchise's sacrifices of future assets for win-now parts.

But the motivation behind those deals is becoming easier to see by the second. Each time this team takes the floor, it seems to move one step closer to its championship ceiling.

Unless noted otherwise, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.