INDEPENDENCE, Ohio _ After all the injuries, after a 51-win season that feels like a disappointment, LeBron James said he believes the defending champion Cavaliers can still do "something special" and win it all.
He didn't say why, but his coyness and his body language gave it away. All who surrounded him after practice Thursday at Cleveland Clinic Courts knew what he meant.
"I've got the answer. I'm not giving it to you," he said. "But I've got the answer why I feel like we've got a great chance."
His presence is the reason. The way his 32-year-old body feels is the reason. The fact that he became the first player in NBA history to average 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists while shooting 54 percent from the field is the reason.
The four-time league MVP saw his chances for a fifth erased as the Cavs stumbled down the stretch, going 21-20 in the second half of the season, 10-14 since March 1.
Perhaps only James knows how much he was saving for the playoffs, how much he has in reserve. In his 14th season in the league, he may have reined himself in earlier than usual as he seeks to make his seventh consecutive trip to the NBA Finals.
But he said he woke up Thursday "very excited about today" and found the rare opportunity to practice "refreshing." He is surrounded by a team at full strength and a coach who proved to be unflappable in his first time at the helm in the 2016 playoffs, even when the Cavs were down 3-1 in The Finals to the Golden State Warriors.
The Warriors are overwhelming favorites to win this year's title. That's just the way James likes it as he prepares for the Cavs' first-round series against the Indiana Pacers, which opens Saturday at 3 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena.
James was ready to turn the page on the regular season. He wanted to forget about the loss of center Andrew Bogut 58 seconds into his Cavs' debut, about J.R. Smith's fractured right thumb in December and Kevin Love's knee surgery on Valentine's Day. He didn't want to discuss why the Cavs blew consecutive games against the Atlanta Hawks on Friday and Sunday, leading coach Tyronn Lue to rest the Big Three and concede the top seed to the Boston Celtics.
James has confidence in his team, and he didn't want anyone Thursday to try to tear that down.
"It's been strange events this season, unfortunate events, some of them bad, some of them good but at the end of the day I can't have my mind focused on the past now," James said. "The present is the only thing that matters. Me preparing this group, me getting this group locked in and understanding what our opportunity is. We've got to have our mind sharp, our bodies as fresh as possible going into Game 1 on Saturday.
"You guys can harp on the regular season. I'm not one to do it, not with the postseason starting right now. You guys are trying to drain my energy. I just told you I feel great. Don't do that to me. I feel good. I'm not going backwards."
Lue said he could feel James' confidence in practice and also pointed out that after talking to the media, James returned to the court for more shooting.
James surprised some Thursday who expected him to have morphed into his "Zero Dark Thirty" mode for the playoffs, which usually means curt answers and little interaction. That time will come soon enough.
James has captured three NBA titles in a span of five years, starting with the Miami Heat in 2012. He's pulled off a repeat, also winning with the Heat in 2013. He carried the injury-ravaged Cavs to Game 6 of the 2015 Finals before collapsing in exhaustion.
He knows what's required. He knows when it's time for Zero Dark Thirty, when he'll sit in the locker room reading a book, tuning out what's going on around him.
In describing the challenge ahead, James sounded ready to take on the role of coach and leader as he tries to push the Cavs to another level, a level they rarely reached during the regular season.
He gave the aforementioned reason for his belief that something special is possible, again without saying it.
"I am who I am in the postseason," he said. "I am who I am all year, but I get even more locked in throughout the postseason, understanding the magnitude of the games.
"I've got to be the leader of this team every night I step on the floor, I've got to command these guys and put them in the right positions to be successful and I've got to do it on both ends. If I do that, we've got a good chance."
