Cavs' Blatt on back-to-back wins: 'No reason to jump out of our britches'

The Cleveland Cavaliers finally looked like the Cleveland Cavaliers everyone was expecting this week.

The Cavs snapped a four-game losing streak with a decisive, thorough and downright bullying 106-74 defeat of the Orlando Magic on Monday and followed it up with a summary 113-87 dismissal of the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. Now off until Saturday, when they'll look to build some momentum and get above .500 for the first time since Nov. 19., the Cavs are trying not to get too comfortable.

"I'm not making a big deal about the game tonight," Head coach David Blatt said Wednesday, as reported by Dave McMenamin of ESPN. "Because that would do injustice to the bad games that we played. You know what I mean? I just think we played the way we should play. No reason to jump out of our britches."

That's probably the best way for the Cavs to look at things. They're only doing what's expected, although the win over Washington will look quite impressive later, considering how strong a team the Wizards appear to be.

Really, nobody is going to stop criticizing the Cavaliers until their record is more commensurate with expectations. The Miami Heat starting 9-8 in year one of The Big Three era is often pointed to as an example that new teams with fresh rosters can struggle, and the 7-7 Cavs could be looking at a similar record by the end of next week.

Breaking a four-game losing streak is still progress, though, even if there's a lot of building left to come.

"I think we're getting there," point guard Kyrie Irving said.

That appears to be true for two games, anyway. The offense is still just eighth in the league, about seven spots lower than expected, and so the surprisingly spry Indiana Pacers should prove a nice measuring stick Saturday.