The Cavaliers ditched their custom suits for the first road game these playoffs

The Cleveland Cavaliers ditched their custom Thom Browne suits for Game 7 against the Boston Celtics. LeBron James had fitted and funded his teammates with the suits, and the team had worn them for each road game so far this postseason, but the tradition didn’t extend to Sunday’s decisive showdown.

It worked: Cleveland won and advanced to the NBA Finals. Maybe the suits were the problem the whole time!

Here’s James entering Boston’s TD Garden, wearing an outfit that leans on the always reliable denim-and-hoodie combination. It is definitely not a suit — this I’m sure of.

Cleveland was 0-3 wearing the suits against Boston, although they were 3-2 in the previous two series while wearing them. (In other words, the Cavaliers were 3-5 on the road this postseason before Game 7.) They were great fits, and James rocked them particularly well, as you can see from the team’s last game in Boston.

You could argue there was a reason for it: the Cavaliers didn’t want to get champagne on their fancy new suits, which will be sprayed liberally in the locker room should they win.

I’d guess it isn’t that complicated, though. It was Game 7, everything was on the line, and Cleveland just stopped worrying about gimmicks. That’s what the matching suits were, and we can all happily admit it at this point.

No matter what their opponents wear, these Celtics still hadn’t lost at home this postseason before Game 7. That was always Cleveland’s most pressing issue, and challenge. Mission accomplished.