After a whole lot of nothing occurred at the NBA Draft Lottery Tuesday night in which no team moved in the pre-draft lottery in it’s 31 year history, the Cavaliers looked like they haven’t missed a beat and put an old school tail whooping on the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals winning 115-84.
You never know what can happen in the course of an NBA playoff series with injuries, suspensions, adjustments, etc. but for all intents and purposes it seems as though the Raptors have little if any chance to give the Cavaliers any sort of challenge on their way to their second consecutive NBA Finals appearance.
The Cavaliers are now 9-0 in the 2016 NBA Playoffs and tied a record last night for conference domination the past two seasons:
Cavaliers are the 1st team since the '00-02 Lakers to win 16 straight playoff games within their own conference. pic.twitter.com/3umCFEoKTa
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 18, 2016
The Cavaliers haven’t lost an eastern conference playoff game since falling down 2-1 in the eastern conference semifinals to the Bulls last season and having LeBron hit this clutch shot to come back and win Game 4 on the road.
Up late last night messin around, epic piece to LeBron's game-winner vs Bulls. Ready for some NBA now.. pic.twitter.com/iQ8eqynXWA
— Grant Wiley (@GrantWiley2) October 5, 2015
Ever since then the Cavs finished off the Bulls in 6 games and have swept the Hawks twice, Pistons and may be on their way to sweeping the Raptors.
LeBron James looks to be headed to his sixth consecutive NBA Finals appearance which is an incredible and groundbreaking accomplishment when you consider he is the only player to make five consecutive finals other than the members of the 1960s Boston Celtics who had Bill Russell and played in a league with eight teams.
Since Joining the Heat in 2010, LeBron James has gone 69-18 in the postseason against the eastern conference, a 79 percent winning percentage which is out of this world.
That is eerily similar of course to Michael Jordan’s seven-year run through the eastern conference from 1991-1998 (yes I am including the 1995 postseason when he returned) in which Jordan went 71-18 against the eastern conference.
So if LeBron and the Cavs sweep the Raptors he will have a six-year stretch against the eastern conference with a 72-18 record, essentially identical to Jordan 71-18 seven-year run.
Although King James had not had the same success in the NBA Finals as Air Jordan (he’s faced stiffer competition) he has been every bit as dominant in the east, and the most dominate force in one conference that we have seen since Jordan.
