ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Cavaliers enter tonight's game against the Magic having lost five of seven games for the second time this season, and for now LeBron James is OK with it.

In comparing Cleveland's rocky start to the season with this current slide, James said this morning: "We're just a different team than then.

"We didn't really know who we were, what we wanted to do at that time," James said. "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 do, we know what we want to accomplish. So, we're a totally different team now."

Isaiah Thomas makes his first start tonight in just his second game with the team. He scored 17 points in his debut Tuesday and James said Thomas provided "a sample of what he can do for our team."

But James said "we still won't know yet" how good the Cavs can be now that Thomas is back, for the foreseeable future.

"We still got a long way to go," he said.

Nothing James said here is wrong, but it's good to get him on the record now about this because, well, his reactions may change quickly if the losing continues. The Cavs have lost five straight on the road and still have three games left after tonight on this road trip, at Minnesota, Toronto, and Indiana.

He was making jokes after the Cavs lost 102-88 to Boston on Wednesday, but also acknowledged that he usually turns the locker room on its ear with a postgame tirade or tweet storm each season.

Keep that umbrella handy.