Lebron, Cavs stay red hot with victory over Philly

In any other season, the Cleveland Cavaliers would be running away with their division and dominating the entire Eastern Conference.  After defeating Philadelphia 88-72 on Friday night, Cleveland ran their record to 20-3 for the season and have won 11 straight games.  While they may be running away with their division—now 7 games ahead of second place Detroit—they’re only keeping pace with the Boston Celtics who lead the Eastern Conference.

After dropping two of their first three to open the season, Cleveland has gone on a 19-1 run including the current eleven game winning streak.  They enjoy the NBA’s only remaining undefeated home record, a mark they won’t get to improve until they return from a four game road trip.  Despite the impressive start to the season, LeBron James tried to keep the focus on the big picture:

"We should be proud of this. But there's a lot of work still to do. It's a long season. We have to continue get better and continue to work."

LeBron dismissed any talk of “frustration” about the team’s inability to claim the top spot in the division due to the torrid pace of the Boston Celtics by focusing on their success:

"We're rolling. We're playing great basketball."

LeBron scored 28 points to lead the Cavs in scoring and added 7 rebounds and 7 assists.  With the exception of James’ team leading effort, the rest of the Cleveland attack was balanced with four of the five starters posting double figures.  Anderson Varejao, starting in place of injured Zydrunas Ilgauskas, scored 17 points while Delonte West and Mo Williams scored 16 and 14 respectively.  Philadelphia was led by 19 points from Willie Green, with Andre Iguodala adding 16.  Elton Brand contributed 11 points and 11 boards in a losing cause.

Cleveland travels to Atlanta on Saturday night looking for their twelfth straight win, which would set a new franchise mark for longest winning streak.  They’ll have three more games on the road against Minnesota, Denver and Oklahoma City before returning home on 12/23 against Houston.  Philadelphia will host Washington on Saturday night and Milwaukee next Wednesday before they hit the road for a game against Indiana on 12/19.