ORLANDO, Fla. _ LeBron James believes the Cavaliers' five losses in their past seven games going into Saturday night's road game against the Orlando Magic is not the same as their 2-5 stretch early in the season.
James said the Cavs have found their identity now, as opposed to how they felt in October and early November, when that slide included four losses in a row.
"We didn't really know who we were, what we wanted to do at that time," James said before shootaround at Freedom High School. "We know who we are now, what we want to do. Sometimes even when you know, you still take some bumps along that road. That's OK. We know what we want to accomplish. We're a totally different team now."
Even during a stretch when the Cavs won 18 out of 19, including a franchise record-tying 13 in a row starting on Nov. 11 at Dallas, James said the Cavs weren't themselves because they were without point guard Isaiah Thomas and center Tristan Thompson.
Thomas will make his first start as a Cav against the Magic and play just his second game in a comeback from a torn labrum in his right hip. Thompson played in only three of the aforementioned 19 and his minutes were limited in his return from a left calf injury.
"Eighteen out of 19 got us back where we wanted to be, but it didn't say what our team was," James said. "We still were without our All-Star point guard, still was without Double T for a stretch of time. So, I never got too high on that, never got too low, if you look at any of my quotes then. We were playing good basketball, we want to continue.
"Now we're not playing good basketball; we want to play better. That's just what happens throughout the course of the season. But I never was like, 'Oh, that's the team that's gonna be there in the playoff time.' We didn't have enough out there, we didn't have a full sample of what we can actually do. We still won't know yet. We still got a long way to go."
James knows it might take time for Thomas to return to the form that made him a two-time All-Star and second team All-NBA last season and it might take the Cavs time to acclimate.
Asked about a possible adjustment period with Thomas, James said, "We're going to find out. He definitely adds another playmaker, another shot maker on the floor, another guy who can command a double team. Especially on pick-and-rolls, he's going to attract defenses and allow guys like myself, J.R. (Smith), (Kevin Love) and Jae (Crowder) to get great opportunities, so we're looking forward to it."
Cavs coach Tyronn Lue called Thomas' return against the Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday "a breath of fresh air," even though he hasn't been cleared to play in both of back-to-back games.
Although the Cavs' offensive efficiency is fourth in the league at 110.8 points per 100 possessions, their defensive efficiency has slipped to 28th (108.4), seemingly an issue in this 2-5 stretch.
But Lue pointed to offensive woes as a contributing factor. In the past five losses, the Cavs have averaged 98.4 points per game; in the past four, that number dips to 94 points per game.
"It can be our offense, too. We're not scoring as good as we were, either," Lue said. "You're missing shots, teams are in transition more, if we turn the basketball over they're in transition more. I think a lot of it has to do with our offense not being able to score the past four or five games."
