The Cleveland Cavaliers will be battling the Indiana Pacers in a pivotal Game 5 playoff matchup on Wednesday night. The key player for the Cavaliers, LeBron James, is well aware of the significance of the game and spoke about what lies ahead at the team’s Wednesday shootaround:
“I’ve been in this situation before, but this is a different situation, every situation is different,” James said. “Hopefully, I’m at my best or close to it tonight.”
As he noted, James has plenty of experience with such circumstances, so he knows exactly what steps need to be taken — even if he can’t make any guarantees:
“You just go out and do what you gotta do to help your team win,” James said after shootaround today. “You gotta have your mind right, sharp, I don’t think you can never predict that the ball is going to go in or things of that nature, you always know that you’re going to be in the right spot defensively, try not to have as many turnovers and just have your mind sharp.”
James is averaging 32.5 points, 11.8 rebounds and 8.0 assists in the first four games of the series, but noted that he’s starting to feel the effects of the 43.0 minutes per game that’s he’s had to play thus far.
“My legs don’t feel great, obviously, with the minutes and then the flight, but I just start getting my treatment around the clock and prepare myself,” James said. “The good thing about this one is we had two days in between, so it’s helped me out a lot.”
A win on Wednesday would put the Cavaliers just one win away from advancing to the second round. However, losing the contest would send them back to Indianapolis on Friday night facing elimination in the first round — something that’s never happened to James in his previous 12 playoff appearances.
