INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- LeBron James is gone. The Cleveland Cavaliers' confidence is not.
When Tristan Thompson, one of the holdovers from the 2016 championship team, was asked whether this new group has enough "winning muscle memory," Thompson repeated the question before pointing to the Eastern Conference championship banners displayed on the wall inside Cleveland Clinic Courts. Then he started counting.
"We're still four-time Eastern Conference champions, so until you take us down from that, teams ain't got much to say," Thompson said. "Boston, Philly, they ain't got much to say. Boston had homecourt Game 7 and lost.