Are the Cavs closer than we think?

The Cavs were 6 games into a 7-game road trip. They were playing the Lakers on the second night of a back-to-back. Again, they were on the road. Did I mention this was the Lakers? And yet, Byron Scott is still taking the time to build, and teach his young team and we still only lost by 5 after making a nice 4th quarter run:

Stat of the night: Every Lakers starter played at least 30 minutes. Not a single Cavs starter played 30 mins. Bryant played nearly 41 mins

— Reed, Boyer (@PDcavsinsider) January 14, 2012

Needless to say, I am excited by the small things that I see in this team, and figured we were a couple years away, but on the right path. Maybe it is too optimistic to think about this year, but are the Cavs closer to contending than I thought they were?