The Cleveland Cavaliers hit the panic button early as the team struggled in a few matchups, but now they are back on track and getting healthier by the day. The team was hit hard with injuries early in the year, but that appears to be improving and improving quickly. Timofey Mozgov made a quick return from a shoulder injury while Iman Shumpert and Kyrie Irving are back at practice and looking to play sooner rather than later.

According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN.com, both Irving and Shumpert have returned to practice in a moderate fashion. Both players joined their teammates on Monday which was a welcomed sight for the injury-riddled Cavaliers. Irving is just five months removed from surgery to repair a fractured knee cap. Shumpert had wrist surgery two months ago. Irving has been playing in one-on-one drills with a knee brace while Shumpert has returned to shooting. Both players had timetables of a January return, but at least one of them could be back sooner. Head coach David Blatt believes Shumpert could see the court soon.

"For a normal person, I would say he's ahead of schedule, yes," Blatt said, via ESPN.com. "That doesn't mean he's coming back tomorrow, but I would say he's very much further along the line than most people would be at the same phase. Yes."

If anything, Blatt remains hopeful that both players can be active when the Cavaliers take on the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day. Until then they will continue to get by with players like JR Smith, Mo Williams and Matthew Dellavedova stepping up into bigger roles with the team while LeBron James and Kevin Love carry the load. One player eager to contribute is Anderson Varejao who has not made the impact he was hoping for this year.

Since returning from a torn Achilles suffered last year, Varejao has been quiet as Timofey Mozgov makes the big impact on the court. The center told the media that he simply wants to play and help the team win and he was ready to get more time on the court.

"Not playing isn't easy," Varejao said, via the News-Herald. "You never know how much you can do in practice because you never know if you're going to play or not. The main thing is stay ready. I was able to play and help the team. As a player, especially when you feel like you're not done, that you can still play, it's tough. At the beginning of the season I said I wanted to take baby steps. I thought I was going to play a little bit more, but it is what it is. As long as I'm still important for this team, I'm fine with that."

The improvement of Varejao will be needed down the stretch of the season. He saw more playing time when Mozgov was injured, but that decreased upon his return. Having two healthy bigs will come in handy when the second half of the season rolls around.