CLEVELAND -- Here's how the Cleveland Cavaliers described their 91-78 loss to the Washington Wizards last Friday when asked about it before their rematch with the Wiz on Wednesday:

"That was probably our worst performance," said Kevin Love, perhaps lingering on the season-low eight points he scored while getting just eight shot attempts.

"We did a terrible job that basketball game," said coach David Blatt, maybe thinking about how, up to that point, he had lost six of the first 11 games he coached in the NBA after being so bold as to recite his résumé earlier in the season and inform reporters he had "probably won about 700" games overseas.

"[The Wizards did] whatever they wanted to," said LeBron James, no doubt remembering how the Cavs were outrebounded 45-41, outshot 48.8 to 36 percent, out-assisted 24-13 and outexecuted as Cleveland coughed up 19 turnovers leading to 24 points while Washington's 17 turnovers amounted to only 12 points on the other end.

"They really took it to us," said Kyrie Irving, as he lost his individual matchup with John Wall, who put up 28 points and seven assists to Irving's 22 and two.

It's been nearly a full month since the Cavs opened up the season with so much pomp and circumstance that James called it "probably one of the biggest sporting events that's up there ever." And ever since then, starting with that dud of a night against the New York Knicks, all they've looked like is probably the biggest disappointment out of any NBA team so far this season.

With Wednesday’s 113-87 rout of the Wizards coming just before a break in the schedule for the Thanksgiving holiday that provides a natural opportunity to reflect on where this Cavs team is right now, they find themselves somewhere in between the doldrums of that loss five days ago -- their third out of four straight -- and the fevered optimism they felt a month ago when they first launched this enterprise.

"I'm not making a big deal about the game tonight because that would do injustice to the bad games that we played," said Blatt after his team assisted on 23 of 38 baskets, cut their turnovers down to just 10 and put six players in double digits. "You know what I mean? I just think we played the way we should play. No reason to jump out of our britches. Just we should have a good feeling that we played the way that we should play. And beyond that, not much. I know the turkey is going to taste a little bit sweeter tomorrow."

The broad strokes of the victory were easy to point out -- James was brilliant with 29 points, 10 rebounds, 8 assists and 3 steals; Irving helped hold Wall to a season-low six points along with five turnovers while he put up 18 points, five assists and three steals against one turnover of his own; the much-maligned Cavs bench showed some semblance of depth, scoring 29 points to the 41 for the Wizards reserves (it was 40-9 in Washington's favor the last time they played); Cleveland was the aggressor, outscoring the No. 2 team in the East 17-2 in fast-break points -- but it was the little things they did that showed the growth the Cavs have gone through already.

Like when James turned the ball over in the first half and then immediately sprinted back on defense to break up a pass and send the ball out of bounds, stopping an easy scoring chance. "You just can't give up on plays," James said.

Or when Love sprawled out his 6-foot-10, 243-pound body on the floor and wrestled the 6-11, 240-pound Marcin Gortat for some loose leather, causing a jump ball. "That was definitely one of the focal points," Love said. "We have the talent, we're going to continue to get better, but it's things like that we have to keep continuing to get better at."

And what they did on the court mattered far more than what they said about it after the game, but when Irving was asked about his career-high 3-point percentage and his individual defensive performances this season against top-tier point guards such as Wall and Tony Parker in the postgame locker room, his answer seemed like another one of those little things that are starting to fall into place for this group.

"I think we're getting there," Irving said, veering the direction of the question away from him. "More or less, it's just about our team right now. Me personally, it doesn't really matter about statistics or percentages or anything like that. It just matters about how we're doing in the win-loss column."

In that respect, they're 7-7. Could they be a lot better? Sure. But then again, they could be where they were after that loss to the Wizards in D.C.

"Someone told me today it was five days ago," Blatt said after the game, marveling at his team's turnaround. "I thought it was five months ago. I swear to God I couldn't believe it."

If the Cavs keep playing the way they're playing, they'll make believers out of a lot of people.