Newsflash: The Cavaliers are awesome.

Everyone knows the Lakers and Celtics are great teams, but I seem to be the only one who knows that the Cavaliers are, too.

Through today, the Cavaliers are 17-3 with a scoring margin of +13.3. The record for the highest scoring margin ever for a full season is 12.3, held by the 69-13 1972 Lakers. Are they going to win 85% of their games for the rest of the season (70-12)? No. Are they going to outscore their opponents by 13 points per game for the entire season? No. But they're completely hidden under the shadows of the Lakers and Celtics, and they deserve to be brought into the light.

Let's look at their current eight-game win streak: 14-point win at home versus Atlanta (12-7), 18-point win against New York (9 and 11), 35-point home win against Oklahoma City (2-19), a 15-point home win against Golden State (5-15), a 12-point win in Milwaukee, a 36-point home win against New York, a 24-point home win against Indiana (7-13), and a 20-point win in Charlotte (7-13). Eight games, eight double-digit wins, a 21.8 point scoring margin. Not bad, eh?

But there's more. In several of these games, they built huge early leads, then let them evaporate in the fourth quarters while the starters rested. Therefore, the 21.8 scoring margin doesn't do justice to the Cavaliers' domination. Against Atlanta, they were up by 21 after three quarters only to win by 14. Against the Knicks they were up 29 at half, but only won by 18. Against Oklahoma City, they were up by 34 at half, by 40 after three quarters, but only won by 35. Against Golden State, a 26-point cushion after three quarters turned into a mere 15-point win. Against Charlotte, a 26-point lead decreased into a 20-point margin over the final 12 minutes. In only two of their last eight games did the Cavs not lead by at least 20 going into the final period: In Milwaukee, they were only up by five, but wound up winning by a respectable 12. Against Indiana, they were only ahead by 16, but outscored the Pacers by eight in the final period.

During their eight-game win streak, the Cavs have averaged a 23.6 point lead entering the fourth quarter. Have most of the teams ranged from bad to supershitty? Yes, but they're not that shitty. That's like saying, "oh yeah, he shot 40 on a 60-par course. How would he do on a 70-par course?" I dunno. 50? The combined average scoring margin for the eight teams is -3.8. Theoretically, that means a 21.8 point scoring margin against them would be like an 18-point scorign margin against an average schedule, and a 20.7 point scoring margin after three quarters. That's pretty good. Great, even.