The Cleveland Cavaliers came into tonight with a fairly respectable 6-9 record even after losing three in a row, but a win tonight would be by far the biggest of the season, for a variety of reasons.
And the Cavaliers are off to a strong start, tied with LeBron James and the Miami Heat 37-37 on the road at AmericanAirlines Arena on Tuesday night.
Cleveland entered having lost three straight, allowing 105, 114 and 121 points respectively, but they have held James to seven points and the Heat to just 37 points through two quarters. While the Heat came into the game on the heels of a home loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, they were still second in the NBA averaging 105.4 points coming in.
The unlikely hero so far for the Cavaliers is backup forward Samardo Samuels, who has made 5-5 from the field to score 10 points in 10 minutes. Cleveland's bench has piled up 23 of their 37 points, and things are going surprisingly well for the Cavaliers.
For more on the Cavaliers check out Fear The Sword, and for more on the Heat, check out Peninsula Is Mightier. You can also head over to SB Nation's main NBA hub at SBNation.com/NBA.