The month-long feat of strength Cleveland has thrust upon the league did not abate Wednesday, as the Cavaliers waltzed out of Philadelphia with another win, beating the Sixers 101-93. The margin wasn't a dozen, and LeBron James actually had to play in the fourth quarter to help seal the W (a rare occurrence of late). But the road victory over a team that was supposed to challenge Cleveland for a top seed works.
Cleveland's early dominance has been staggering. Much has been been made of late about the Cavaliers' status among the league's top two in offense and defense. But it goes further: among the four factors which define success on each side of the ball (that'd be eight factors in total), Cleveland went into Wednesday in the league's top 11 in seven categories. The weak link? Opponent foul-drawing ... which (with a team's own foul drawing) is the least important of the factors. The Lakers don't rebound the ball well defensively, and Boston suffers from a ton of turnovers. But Cleveland really has no statistical weakness right now.
Are the Cavs playing over their heads? An assortment of Cavaliers are shooting better than their career numbers would have projected. But by adding Mo Williams, the team basically added two weapons: Mo and Delonte West, who can now play off the ball full-time. Suddenly, Cleveland has an abundance of weapons ... which takes pressure off them all.
Of course, having LeBron playing better than he has ever been helps too. LeBron's PER is 32.8 right now. The NBA record is Wilt Chamberlain's 31.8 in both '61-62 and '62-63. Michael Jordan's peak is a 31.7 in '87-88.
Cavalier Feats of Strength Continue originally appeared on NBA FanHouse on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:48:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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