The Cleveland Cavaliers just keep rolling through the Eastern Conference, moving to 12-4 on the season with a 95-90 Friday night victory over the vastly improved Charlotte Hornets.
At first glance, that might not seem particularly notable.
After all, LeBron James still plays for the Cavaliers, and this is a squad coming off an NBA Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors—one in which they took the eventual champions to Game 6 before losing out on the Larry O'Brien Trophy. Cleveland was supposed to be extremely competitive, taking advantage of the weaker half of the NBA before gearing up for another deep postseason run.