CLEVELAND -- Kyrie Irving said something about the Cleveland Cavaliers that no one wanted to hear.
"We're on the same page now," Irving said, and again, that may not be good news for the rest of the NBA.
But it's true. A team with Irving, LeBron James, Kevin Love and others may be gelling at the right time. At least, that's what recent results suggest. The Cavs have won 14 of 16, and rode a 12-game winning streak in the process.
They looked downright formidable by moving the ball, defending and using their star players to their advantage. Thanks to trades made by general manager David Griffin, the Cavs are also taller and their bench is considerably deeper.
It appeared neither Dion Waiters nor a draft pick obtained from the Oklahoma City Thunder would help the Cavs contend for a title this year. So the Cavs turned them into J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Timofey Mozgov.
From the looks of things, those three, plus the recent good health of James, are making a major impact -- and forcing the rest of the league to take the Cavs (33-22) quite seriously.
"They've added versatility to our team," Irving said of the newcomers. "They bring a sense of toughness from where they came from."
While Irving, Love and Tristan Thompson have never been to the playoffs, James has traveled a winning road. As you know, before returning to Cleveland in free agency in July, James led the Heat to four straight Finals, winning two.
So he knows what matters is playing well when it means the most. According to James, that time has arrived.
"The second half of the season doesn't start until after the All-Star break," James said. "That's when you really start to lock in even more."
The Cavs enter the post-break as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. But don't let the seeding fool you. They are just a half-game behind the fourth-place Washington Wizards and one game behind the third-place Chicago Bulls, leaders of the Central Division. So as Blatt has said, "We're in that race."
And as James added, the Cavs aren't really concerned with anyone but themselves.
"We can't worry about what every other team is doing," he said. "We have to continue to build what we're doing right now. We're playing some really good basketball, we're defending at a high level, we're sharing the ball and it's good for us. Whatever every other team does, we can't play for them. We play for ourselves and (are trying to) get better."
So far, it's working. You won't win them all, and you'll look downright bad in others. But it's the final result that matters, and suddenly, the Cavs are looking like a team that could do something special.
"We have three new players on the team," Blatt said. "LeBron is our leader, and with him playing as well as he's played -- he's playing at a tremendous level -- we're a different team and it shows in our play.
"We're more of a complete team now. We're balanced, we have depth and we really play well together. The new guys have added ability, effort and great spirit."
