Written by J.D. Shultz

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The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the New Jersey Nets at The Q on Tuesday night, 104-97.

That was expected . . . although, I was sort of expecting it to be a little easier than it was.

[After all, the Nets have won four games all season.  The Cavs have won four games in the past week.]

But Cleveland's play in the last 10 games, all things considered, has definitely not been expected.

In a good way.

[I'm an optimistic guy, but I dare you to try to convince me that you saw the Cavaliers starting out 10-0 when you first heard Mo was going to be out for four-to-six weeks.]

The Cavs are in the middle of arguably their longest stretch of goodness this season . . . and it's happening without Mo Williams (sprained shoulder), Delonte West (fractured ring finger), and for a while, Jamario Moon (abdominal strain).

Tonight's game at The Q  against the Orlando Magic will be another big test . . . but for now, let's take a step back and appreciate how the Cavs have been getting the job done over the last three-and-a-half weeks. 

Soak in these numbers:

#1.)  The win makes the Cavaliers 42-11, which matches their record after 53 games last year.  Mathematically, the Cavs are on pace to go 65-17.  Last year's team finished 66-16.

#2.)  The win against the Nets pushes the Cavs' (short-handed) win streak to an incredible 12 games.  It's the longest winning streak in the NBA this season, and it's the second longest in Cavalier history, behind only last year's 13-game run.

The Cavs last loss was their heartbreaking fall in Utah all the way back on January 14th.  That was the game that rookie Sundiata Gaines . . . playing in his fifth NBA game . . . nailed his first career 3-pointer at the buzzer to thwart an absolutely brilliant fourth quarter comeback by LeBron James.

#3.)  The Cavs have now won 10 straight games at home, they're 21-1 over the past 22 home games, and are an NBA-best 23-3 overall at The Q this season.  Last year, they were an NBA-best 39-2 . . . meaning that in the past two years, they are an NBA-best 62-5 at home.  That's a winning percentage of 92.5%. 

Don't forget about home court advantage.  Right now the Cavs have a 6.5 game lead on Orlando for the best record in the Eastern Conference, and a 2.0 game lead on the L.A. Lakers for the best record in the NBA. 

Remember:  The Cavs only lost one game at home against the Magic in the ill-fated Eastern Conference Finals last year.  It was a one point loss after a crazy 3-pointer by Rashard Lewis with 14 seconds left.  It was also Game One, which was rough.  Don't dismiss the importance of home court because of that aberration.

#4.)  As hard as it is to believe, the Cavs have gone 10-0 without Mo.  Nine of those games were also without Delonte, two of those games were also without Jamario, and one-half of one of those games was without Daniel Gibson.

[And now, for some stats regarding those 10 wins without Mo and (for the most part) Delonte.  For comparison, I included the season-to-date averages (and differential) in parentheses.  So basically, here's a rundown of who's picking up the slack (slash) shifting into a higher gear while Mo's out.]

#5.)  Scoring average bumps in the past 10 games: 

Daniel Gibson 11.3 points (6.9 on the season, that's +4.4), Shaquille O'Neal 15.7 points (11.7, +4.0), J.J. Hickson 9.9 points (7.2, +2.7), Jawad Williams 6.9 points (4.3, +2.6), LeBron James 30.9 points (29.8, +1.1), and Danny Green 3.3 points (2.5, +0.8).

Boobie has started eight games, and scored more than 10 points in eight of the past 10.

#6.)  Assists average bumps in the past 10 games: 

LeBron 10.2 assists (8.2, +2.0), Boobie 2.6 assists (1.3, +1.3), Shaq 2.5 assists (1.7, +0.8), Zydrunas Ilgauskas 1.3 assists (0.7, +0.6), and Jawad 1.2 assists (0.8, +0.4).

LeBron has had more than 10 assists six times in the past 10 games.  He had a game with 15, a game with 13, a game with 12 and three games with 11.  His other totals were nine, eight, eight, and four.

And assists or not, LeBron deserves the credit for challenging the team to raise the bar.

#7.)  Minutes average bumps in the past 10 games: 

Boobie 32.5 minutes (20.0, +12.5 - plus he's actually played in every game), Jawad 19.9 minutes (12.3, +7.6), and Danny 8.2 minutes (5.2, +3.0), Shaq 25.4 minutes (23.2, +2.2), J.J. 21.1 minutes (19.1, +2.0), and LeBron 39.1 minutes (38.7, +0.4).

#8.)  Total rebounding average bumps in the past 10 games:

J.J. 6.4 rebounds (4.4, +2.0), Jawad 2.6 rebounds (1.4, +1.2), Boobie 1.8 rebounds (1.2, +0.4), Shaq 7.1 rebounds (6.8, +0.3).

#9.)  Field goal percentage bumps in the past 10 games:

Anderson Varejao 70.8% in the last 10 (54.5%, +16.3%), Shaq 64.7% (55.9%, +8.8%), J.J. 58.0% (54.9%, +3.1%), Boobie 46.3% (46.1%, +0.2%).  (The numbers show a nice improvement in the paint.)

#10.)  Three of the 10 teams are above .500 (L.A. Lakers, Oklahoma City and Memphis) . . . and Miami, which they've beat twice in the past 10 games, is essentially right at .500.