INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- LeBron James has long possessed a skill set that shunned conventional definition by position. While he's listed on the lineup card at small forward, he has the court vision of a point guard and the body of a power forward, a mix so rare that Hall of Famer Rick Barry once said he "fantasizes" about James' ability.
James' Cleveland Cavaliers, a perfect 8-0 in the postseason heading into Tuesday's Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Toronto Raptors (8:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), have taken on his versatility as a team.
Out of the 24 five-man lineups that have played at least 35 minutes together through the first two rounds of the playoffs, the Cavs had the two best lineups -- in terms of efficiency -- that any team put out on the court, according to research by ESPN Stats & Information.
And they each have a distinct look.
The Cavs' starting lineup -- or traditional, balanced lineup between big men and small -- with James, Kyrie Irving, J.R. Smith, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson is a plus-63 in 164 minutes together.
Their small-ball group of James, Matthew Dellavedova, Iman Shumpert, Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye has played only 37 minutes together this postseason but is a plus-25 in that span, outscoring opponents by 39.1 points per 100 possessions.
While 37 minutes are far fewer than the 164 the starters have played together, the small-ball group has still played the second-most minutes together of any Cavs lineup this postseason.
Not only does the small-ball lineup give the Cavs a different approach, it is also something that opposing defenses have had little opportunity to prepare for as Cleveland coach Tyronn Lue did not play that combo for even a single minute together during the regular season.
"We've gone over and played with in these playoffs with different lineups where we've played big or small," Love said. "I remember in the first series with [Andre] Drummond, I played 5 and LeBron will play the 4. We play big and go with our starting lineup and go with different players in there. I think the last series you saw Channing and I play together quite a bit as well, and it's just going to depend on how [the Raptors] match up with us, so I think we will try to take advantage in any way we can."
The question of where the Cavs will go with their personnel becomes all the more pertinent when considering the state of flux of the Raptors' roster. Will they have Jonas Valanciunas, out for Game 1 with a lingering ankle injury, healthy at any point in the series? Will they stick with Bismack Biyombo, their answer to Thompson as a big who can switch out and defend the perimeter on pick-and-rolls, if Valanciunas does indeed return? Will Cleveland try to play small anyway, even if Toronto goes big with some combination of the two?
"Our approach doesn't change," James said. "Our approach is the same as if guys are in, if guys are out. It's still the same. We want to wreak havoc defensively, we want to push the tempo offensively and it's been the same mantra of ours all season."
Same mantra, but not the same men. Cleveland is changing as the postseason unfolds. It's only right that James is a part of his team's two most effective lineups in the playoffs thus far as captain of the chameleon Cavs.
Several Cleveland players have said the team is searching for a "next level" as the playoffs progress. Getting there just might involve the next lineup that Lue has up his sleeves.
"We feel like our best basketball is ahead of us, as well as we've played so far," James said. "We look forward to the next challenge."