INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — As they jumped around the locker room dousing each other with ice water and howling after earning their second straight trip to the NBA Finals, the Cavaliers were one.

No out-of-control egos. No division. No squabbling. These were basketball brothers bonded by a common goal, ready to take on the world.

For months, that wasn’t the case.

Underperforming despite a trio of superstars and one of the league’s deepest rosters, the Cavs were imploding before a late-night meeting in New York helped save their season.

In the hours after a disappointing 104-95 loss to Brooklyn on March 25, the Cavs gathered in their Manhattan hotel and cleared the air.

“Once we had that meeting, I just think the team understood what we needed from each other to win — if we wanted to win,” coach Tyronn Lue said Monday. “And I give them credit. They bought into it and you’ve seen the results of it.”

With two series sweeps and a tougher-than-expected matchup with Toronto, the united — and healthy — Cavs have gone 12-2 in this postseason and will now face Golden State in this year’s finals, a rematch of last year’s series won by the Warriors in six games.

The Cavs, who went 0-2 against the Warriors during the regular season, will host Games 3 and 4. But if not for that after-hours talk they had in March on their stay in New York, their title run may have ended weeks ago.

The troubling loss to the Nets was the low point in a season. But as each player expressed his feelings during the meetings, tension gave way to togetherness.

“We had a chance to sit down and talk,” Lue said.