CLEVELAND — The Cavaliers have been the NBA's hottest team over the last several weeks, having won 18 of their last 21 games .
But January and February aren't the months in which teams hope to hit their stride. That time is reserved for April, May and, for the ultimate prize, June.
And so now, out of the league's 30 teams, the Cavs more than any other will face the question that seems to pop up once a year: Is it possible to peak too soon?
The Cavs don't think so. Or at the very least, they're not worried about it.
Starting small forward Max Strus , who was a member of a Miami Heat squad that did peak at the right time last year during their run to the NBA Finals, doesn't buy into the idea of a team hitting its stride too soon.
"No, I mean, it might help to get hot at the right time, but I think the team that's the most consistent and believes in each other and find success in playing the right way and doing the right things is going to be the one that's winning at the end of the day," Strus said after the Cavs' loss to the Orlando Magic Thursday night , their first game since the All-Star break. "So if we can find a way to do that and keep continuing to be consistent, we'll be all right."
After all, it can't be a bad thing to win more games during the regular season. The playoffs are a blank slate whether a team wins its final 10 games or limps into the postseason on a 10-game losing streak.
The Cavs probably won't win 18 of their next 21 games as they have in their previous 21, which led to president of basketball operations Koby Altman standing pat at the trade deadline in an effort to not mess up a good thing.
To Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff , that stat alone — if it comes to pass — won't mean much compared to the team's own internal goals of improving in preparation for the games that truly matter the most. The Cavs learned last year just how quickly a positive, promising season can come crashing to a halt.
"[When the playoffs arrive] I think you want to be playing your relative best, if that's a thing, but I think as the season progresses, you want to just continue to get better," Bickerstaff said. "I think there are different circumstances for veteran teams who have been there and done that and understand, 'Let's get there, let's get there healthy, let's get home court.' And then they can do whatever they want to do because they have that experience."
This Cavs roster doesn't possess that type of experience. So as the season winds down, they'll find the balance between garnering the best seed they can, ensuring the roster is as rested as possible while also being in as much of a rhythm as possible. It'll be a fine line between rest and rust.
Last year, with the playoffs approaching, Bickerstaff wanted the starting lineup to receive an increase in minutes in an effort to sharpen the sword, so to speak. They aren't quite to that point yet. But after so many injuries to the starters this season, as much as rest can be a positive, they're still hoping to round into even better form.
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The Cavs also have to navigate multiple stretches of playing five games in a seven-day span between now and the end of the regular season. Bickerstaff wants the heart of their rotation to be conditioned to play heavier minutes in the postseason. But there is a limit to how hard he'll push.
"We want to be very, very careful, and I think at this point we're at a point where we can be very, very careful," Bickerstaff said. "We can be calculated in the games where guys do play more, in heavier minutes, but playing guys back-to-back 38, 40 minutes, it's just not good for the long term."
Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com. Follow him on Threads at @ByRyanLewis .
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Cavaliers not concerned with peaking entering NBA playoffs
