DENVER -- After the Cleveland Cavaliers claimed an impressive road victory over the Denver Nuggets last Friday, LeBron James shot up from the seat in front of his locker stall and burst into an off-key, high-pitched tune with incoherent words that seemed to have been invented by his 18-month-old son, Bryce. Before the song could be dismissed as gibberish, guard Delonte West formed a duet with James from the other end of the locker room.
Back and forth they went, screeching contentedly, and then it all made sense: The Cavaliers just get one another.
It has happened relatively quickly. Only five of these Cavaliers were on the roster at this point last season. But with Cleveland off to the best start in franchise history at 24-4 -- a 70-victory pace -- there is no denying that the team has clicked. The Cavaliers are the only unbeaten team at home at 15-0.
"I've said this many times before: Watching this team come together, watching them interact with one another, it's some unusual stuff," Cavaliers Coach Mike Brown said. "They've found on their own that if they can trust one another, at the end of the day, that's what helps build chemistry and that carries over to the floor."
Brown talks about how players started to jell in training camp, watching "Monday Night Football" together, hanging out after practice and at games. James likes to refer to the Cavaliers as family because "no one is isolated from the other."
That chemistry didn't immediately translate when Cleveland started the season 1-2, with losses to Boston and New Orleans. Since then, the Cavaliers have won 23 of 25, with 18 of those victories decided by at least 10 points. They have allowed the fewest points per game (89.3) and have the second-lowest defensive field-goal percentage (42.1).
For the first time since Brown became coach after the 2004-05 season, they have managed to blend relentless defense with efficient, high-powered offense. Cleveland is seventh in the league in scoring (102 points per game) and third in team shooting percentage (47.9 percent).
The defending champion Celtics are the first team in NBA history to start a season 27-2 and they had won a franchise-record 19 in a row before losing Thursday, but Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said in a telephone interview that the Cavaliers have actually had the most impressive start.
"They're rolling in every sense of the word," said Morey, whose Rockets lost to Cleveland, 99-90, on Tuesday night. "They've had a tougher schedule, and they are beating opponents by a larger margin (than Boston). This is one of the best 30-game starts in history."
The early success prompted James to make the somewhat surprising declaration that he would consider signing a contract extension in the summer and avoid becoming a free agent in 2010.
