LeBron James has been tormenting the Celtics in the playoffs for a decade

LeBron James has scored more points in the playoffs against the Celtics than any other player has scored against any team in the postseason ever. If you want a number, it’s 979 points. Yes, that’s a 100 percent real stat.

At this point, James has to be enjoying it, right?

James’ series win in five games against the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals is the sixth time he has played Boston. In 2008 and 2010, he lost to Boston. In the last four series, though, he has beaten them soundly. (That would be 2011, 2012, 2015, and 2017.)

But let’s not mince words: James didn’t just beat the Celtics in Thursday’s Game 5 win. Cleveland crushed them, rattling off 108 points even in the one game they lost and topping that total in every other one played. With a 30-point win on Thursday — 33 points to be exact — the Cavaliers became just the third team in the past 30 years to beat an opponent by 30 points twice in the same series.

James is the all-time leading playoffs scorer now, passing Michael Jordan with a three-point jump shot from the left wing in the third quarter. Granted, he did it in 33 more games, but it’s an incredible feat nonetheless. It’s no real wonder that the Celtics, a team he has faced in six series and once beat in a Game 7, are a team he has averaged nearly 29 points against.

At Thursday morning shootaround, James talked about how he has never really considered himself a scorer.

“Anytime I’m linked to any of the greats, even the greatest, in Mike, it’s an honor,” James said at Cavaliers shootaround on Thursday. “I’m not a scorer and I don’t want to be labeled as a scorer. I can put the ball in the hoop but I’m a playmaker. Put me on the court and I’ll find ways to be successful.”

In a sense, that’s true — certainly, of all the superstars you can remember over the past couple decades, James might be the best and most willing passer of all but one or two.

But make no mistake: James is probably the most gifted, transcendent scorer we’ve seen in this generation. He can do everything else, too, but James dropped 35 points on 13-of-18 shooting with eight rebounds, eight assists, three steals, and a block on Thursday. Who else does something like that? Certainly, nobody does it quite like LeBron does.

The Celtics have carved out their path as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference over the next few seasons ... but for now, James and the Cavaliers certainly aren’t going anywhere. This isn’t the end of James terrorizing Boston. In fact, for all we know, he’s still getting started.