By any reasonable measure, the Cleveland Cavaliers are currently in the middle of a disaster of a season.
Laying claim to a .241 winning percentage, the Cavs are on pace to finish with a 19-63 record, which would tie for their fourth-worst in franchise history.
Throughout its injury-plagued campaign, bright spots have been nearly as difficult to come by in Cleveland as victories. So one would think any mini-surge this season be celebrated, even if the Cavs' playoffs hopes were over by the time Thanksgiving arrived.
One would think. But as Cleveland put the finishing touches on its 111-98 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Thursday night, a quick survey of social media would show a fanbase more conflicted than anything else.
Sure, the Cavs won and its young core -- particularly second-year forward Cedi Osman -- played well. And in his most significant action since returning from the toe injury that cost him the majority of his season, Cleveland's lone All-Star, Kevin Love, scored 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 22 minutes.
So what's there to be conflicted about?
The answer is pretty obvious.
With their hopes of contending for a playoff spot long gone, most seem to agree that the Cavs' best chance of fast-tracking their second post-LeBron James rebuild is to accumulate as many ping pong balls as possible for this year's NBA Draft Lottery. In order to do that, Cleveland must lose -- and lose often -- something that hasn't been an issue for the bulk of the season.
But as the All-Star break approached, the Cavs won three of their final eight games -- not an insignificant number of victories given the percentages at play. Including its win over Phoenix on Thursday, Cleveland has amassed a 4-6 record over the course of its last 10 games. For comparison, there are six teams to have compiled worse records over the same span -- including the three teams the Cavs should be most concerned about.
Under the NBA Lottery's current format, the three worst teams in the league each possess a 14 percent chance of landing the No. 1 pick and a 52.1 percent chance of selecting in the top-four. And although eight teams this season have already all but given up on postseason contention, four have separated themselves from the tanking pack.
At 13-46, Cleveland currently trails Phoenix (11-49) and the New York Knicks (11-47) for the worst record in the league. The Chicago Bulls (14-44) are just 1.5 games back of the Cavs for the all-important third-worst record in the league.
To some, this may seem like splitting hairs, but the importance of Cleveland staying behind -- or ahead, depending on your point of view -- of Chicago is significant. Even with a bottom-three record, there will be an 86 percent chance the Cavs don't land the No. 1 pick. Should they possess the league's fourth-worst record at season's end, they'd have just a 48.1 percent chance of landing a top-four pick.
Of course, draft positioning hardly guarantees anything and plenty can change over the course of the next two months. It's also worth noting that of the Suns, Knicks, Cavs and Bulls, it's Cleveland that possesses the toughest remaining schedule, according to Tankathon.com.
Are the Cavs too good for their own good? We'll find out in the weeks to come.
But if the wins continue to unexpectedly add up, the feeling after them might become less conflicted -- just not necessarily in the way one might expect.