CLEVELAND -- After Kendrick Perkins was bought out of his contract by the Utah Jazz last weekend following a trade from the Oklahoma City Thunder, he paid close attention to several teams around the NBA before making a decision to sign with a contender.
When Perkins watched the Cavaliers, he saw a team that was doing all the little things in order to win basketball games, but what he could not know until flying on the team plane back to Cleveland after last Tuesday's 102-93 win over the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills was how close the players are, both on and off the court.
"I wasn't expecting it to be this close knit," Perkins said. "They really jell outside the court. You could tell just on the plane ride the other night coming back from Detroit. It was like a whole group conversation on the plane, just talking about basketball, talking about life. You could tell when you've got guys that deal with each other outside of the court and connect like that, it carries over onto the court, and you could tell it was genuine."
Although the Cavaliers have won 18 of their last 21 games, they started the season at 19-20 and had to fight their way up the standings in the Eastern Conference, where they are currently the fourth-best team behind the Atlanta Hawks (47-12), Chicago Bulls (37-22) Toronto Raptors (37-22).
A veteran of many deep runs in the postseason with the Thunder and Boston Celtics, which included the 2008 NBA Championship, Perkins believe those early-season struggles have paid dividends for the Cavaliers, who defeated the league's best team, the Golden State Warriors, 110-99, at Quicken Loans Arena Thursday.
"I think what happens is, you go through rough times, and once you get to the good times, it makes you that much stronger," Perkins said. "I feel like you've always got to go through a rough process, and before I got here, at the beginning of the season, it was a rough process, but you always want to be playing and be together at the end of the season anyway.
"February, March, April, May, June is when you want to be at your best, on and off the court, so you get the rough times out of the way. It makes you come together close. You may have a couple words with a couple teammates. Growing up, you fight with your brothers, you fight with your cousins, but at the end of the day, you love them. You're going to go to war with them."
Along with the cohesion, Perkins believes the Cavaliers have "the talent level" to succeed, so long as they continue working every day toward the common goal of winning.
"You've got LeBron," Perkins said. "That says a lot, but just the guys you've got around him, you've got K-Love, who's capable of going for 30 and 10 every night. You've got Kyrie, who's arguably the best point guard in the league, and you've got a nice supporting cast around.
"You've got guys who have been there with Mike Miller, James Jones. You've got a young, upcoming big in Tristan, so the supporting cast is there. When you get around, you could feel the great energy, the positive energy that guys want to win. Guys want to do well. They want to learn, so it's just about punching a clock every day.
"You've got guys who could close the game. You've got guys who are willing to play their roles, come in and take a charge, do certain things. You've got the key guys. You've got everything you need to win a championship. It's just about staying focused, staying humble and going out and doing it.
"The sky's the limit. I feel like we've got 25 games left, or so, just to keep building, try not to crown yourself too early. You've still got to put in the work, take it one day at a time. The sky's the limit. We've got the talent. You watch us on the court, we're starting to do the little things. You can see it taking a jump. You've just got to keep improving."
