Cleveland Cavaliers Finding Their Firepower at Just the Right Time

In some ways, Kyrie Irving's 55-point eruption felt like an arrival—for him and for the Cleveland Cavaliers. It was actually something much scarier than that, though.

It was only the beginning of what could be the Cavs' journey toward total offensive dominance.

The 99-94 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, punctuated by Irving's outburst, extended Cleveland's winning streak to eight games. The Cavs have scored liberally throughout the surge, which has coincided with LeBron James' return from a two-week reprieve designed to recharge his knee and back.

James has been sharper lately than he was at any point before his break. Since returning, he's averaged 30.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.6 assists on 49.3 percent shooting.

Even though he missed Irving's double-nickel with a sore wrist, he made sure to lavish praise on his point guard after the fact:

Irving's big night stands out, but his overall play has been much improved of late. During the Cavaliers' streak, he has posted averages of 28.4 points, 5.4 assists and 3.3 rebounds on 52.9 percent shooting from the floor and 55.4 from beyond the arc.

With those two so hot, it's no surprise Cleveland's scoring attack has leaped into the elite category. Its offensive rating of 115.6 since James' return is tops in the league during that span, per NBA.com.

All of a sudden, the Cavs look like a new outfit entirely, as Grantland's Zach Lowe noted:

Head coach David Blatt has gotten creative with his rotations, which is new.

Also novel in Cleveland: defense.

The Cavs, after spending most of the season following James' loafing lead on that end, have shown much more consistent effort. Timofey Mozgov has helped curb opponents' chances at the rim and in very limited minutes, Iman Shumpert has posted the team's lowest on-court defensive rating by far (97.9 points allowed per 100 possessions), per NBA.com.

On balance, the Cavaliers are still a poor defensive team. Since James came back, they've allowed 105.2 points per 100 possessions, good for No. 23 in the league. But let's not dwell on that. The focus here is Cleveland's offensive rise.

Putting points on the board seems to have pulled the team together. At the very least, we're starting to hear the right things.

Irving, for example, deflected praise for his 55-pointer to his teammates, via Chris Haynes of Northeast Ohio Media Group: "Our bigs are doing a great job of just coming in and screening in transition. [They're] being open and being willing screeners every single time down. It just makes my job a lot easier to come down and make an easy decision to either pull up or attack the rim or drop off to our bigs."

The vibes in Cleveland are suddenly more positive than they've been since before the season started.

Granted, it's a lot easier to be cheery when the wins are piling up. This could be a chicken-egg situation; the Cavs might be coming together because they're having success, or they might be having success because they're coming together.

Either way, Cleveland is flashing the offensive punch it was supposed to have from the get-go.

There could be even more on the way.

Kevin Love is still searching for a consistent place in the attack, Shumpert hasn't gotten his legs all the way under him yet and until the option is officially foreclosed, it's still possible the Cavaliers will haul in a key offensive addition.

Ray Allen, anyone?

This is all happening at a good time for the Cavs, as the East (outside of the bulletproof Atlanta Hawks), is looking softer than ever. The Detroit Pistons lost Brandon Jennings to a torn Achilles, Dwyane Wade is going to miss time for the Miami Heat, the Chicago Bulls have had their ups and downs and even the Toronto Raptors, despite winning four straight, spent most of January looking like a mediocre team.

That means the opportunity to fatten up on vulnerable squads is there for the Cavs. As is a chance to climb the standings.

Cleveland has its issues—Love's marginalization, James' health and the defense being chief among them. All of those should be concerns going forward.

But one aspect, the Cavaliers' terrifying offense, now looks sturdy enough to sustain this run. To prop up the team while it searches for solutions to its other problems. To quiet the distracting questions about Blatt's job security. To buy some time as the Cavs take on the difficult task of preparing their untested playoff performers for a postseason run.

It took a half-season, but the Cavs are beginning to look like the team everyone was afraid they could become.

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