CLEVELAND, Ohio - On Thursday the Cleveland Cavaliers had a team dinner and it was where the theme of their upcoming postseason adventure was created:

"We're all in this together and we need to take care of business now."

During that player-only chow down, Tristan Thompson said that was LeBron James' message to the team. The emphasis was on not looking ahead, but staying in the moment.

Their rebounding specialist is calling that dinner "The Last Supper."

"If you look back at Greek mythology and even back before World War 1, every time a team would go out to battle, they'd eat first," Thompson told cleveland.com. "I think that's what it symbolizes before going out to battle. Having that last supper before it's time to go to war."

Cleveland is expected to breeze through the first three series and represent the Eastern Conference in The Finals for the second consecutive year. Miami is considered the team that could give them the toughest challenge if they met up, but Cleveland would still be the favorites to advance.

James and James Jones wanted to make sure the outside noise didn't creep into the locker room. The last thing they want to occur is entering the postseason with some players believing all the hype.

Before you can capture 16 wins needed for a title, you have to get the first four. The Golden State Warriors or the San Antonio Spurs aren't a concern right now.

"Our championship game is Game 1 against the Pistons [on Sunday]," Thompson said adamantly. "That's our championship game, and that's how you have to approach every game because you can't look to June. That's not guaranteed. That's not promised. We have to take care of now."

After a road loss to a shorthanded, rebuilding Brooklyn Nets squad on March 24, a frustrated Tyronn Lue said after the game, "I told them not to take them lightly." The Cavaliers have had the propensity this season of playing down to the level of competition.

A No. 8 seed has only won a first-round series five times in the history of the game. The odds are clearly in Cavaliers' favor. However, their mission is to remain present and not overlook the opposition.

"Absolutely," Kevin Love said. "(The Pistons) have very talented players on this team. Guys that can step up in different roles and Stan [Van Gundy] is going to have those guys ready. ... We expect them to be prepared and we're not looking at seeding."

It's been a roller-coaster of a season for the 57-25 Cavs. The occasional disconnect and mid-season coaching change were negative factors early on, but right now it's irrelevant. What transpires from here will be all that people remember.

There's no room for complacency or excuses. It's about results.

"We have to lock in. Our goal is to play into late June and don't take the process for granted," Thompson said. "We know that it's not going to be easy. It's going to be a lot of sacrificing and if you think you've sacrificed a lot during the season, it's even more now in the playoffs."

We'll see if the Cavaliers take heed to what was discussed at that dinner. They're hoping "The Last Supper" will eventually translate to getting the last laugh.

It's playoff time.

"We look forward to the challenge," James said. "It's going to be a very good series but we're going to take it one game at a time."