At some point, the Cavs are going to need to win games. The rebuild is not nearly close to completion. There is a lot of talk by Cavs fans discussing a time frame. Many want the Cavs to be players in the lottery for another year and then to make the leap into the playoffs. With the way that the recent first round draft picks are playing, it may be time to put those playoff aspirations on hold for the foreseeable future.
Tristan Thompson is typically my scapegoat for his limited offensive game, but he has played fairly well in the five games that Anderson Varejao has been out of the lineup. I still do not consider Thompson an ideal player to have start on a playoff contender due to his offensive limitations, but he always plays hard and provides good defense. With experience and improvement, he could develop into a player who shoots a high percentage despite his poor offense.
On the other hand, Dion Waiters has officially made this blogger concerned. It is early in his career and he has only played in 23 games, but his shooting and shot selection are alarmingly bad. Dion Waiters shot 7-21 against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday night. This marked the tenth time in 23 games where the rookie shooting guard shot 33% or worse. Waiters has shot better than 50% from the field in only four games. One could make the argument that he is a young player who is confident and that the shots will eventually fall. Perhaps that is true. Until then, the Cavs used a very high lottery pick on a guy who shoots a lot and at a very poor clip. Until he corrects his significant flaws, Dion Waiters will not live up to his pre-draft expectations.
As far as the game goes, Kyrie Irving was spectacular. Irving scored 28 points, grabbed 6 rebounds, had 5 assists and 4 steals. Most impressive was the buzzer-beating 40 foot three point shot to end the first half despite being covered by what felt like the entire Atlanta Hawks squad defending him. As great as Irving was on the offensive end, he was at least partially responsible for giving up a career night to Jeff Teague. The fourth year point guard scored a career-high 27 points on only 19 shots.
For the first time in the current campaign, the Cleveland Cavaliers have themselves a win streak. The Cavs (7-23) not only won their first consecutive game of the season, but they won on the road for only the fourth time. This loss drops the Washington Wizards to a 3-23 record, which makes them the worst team in the NBA. Both of these teams have quite a bit in common. They both won the NBA lottery recently and have taken point guards with the top pick. The Wizards and Cavs have drafted shooting guards high in the first round and both Bradley Beal and Dion Waiters are struggling from the field so far in their rookie seasons. Both teams have Brazilian centers who make their teams play better when healthy. Last but not least, both teams are in the process of rebuilding but don't appear to be getting better despite the yearly addition of high lottery picks. 
With fear of the Mayan apocalypse finally in their rear view mirror, a relieved Cavalier squad marched into Milwaukee and beat the Bucks for the first time in ten tries, simultaneously ending a six game losing streak and 
Joakim Noah may not think so, but a trip to Cleveland can be pretty sweet.
both sides of the ball, Cleveland dropped to 5-22 on the season with a 103-91 loss to the Celtics. It was the fifth straight defeat for the Cavaliers, who fell to 1-10 in the month of December.