The Cavaliers treated the Raptors like every ‘other’ East team

Good morning. Let’s basketball.

BARK UP SOME #OTHER TREE: All the pride in the world didn’t keep the Raptors from getting treated like anonymous marks by the Cavaliers as Cleveland won Game 1 of the East finals 115-84. Kyrie Irving and LeBron combined to shoot 22-for-30; Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan combined to shoot 13-for-31. LeBron dunked the Dinos into oblivion for good measure. That’s all she wrote. Here’s Ken Berger on the monster Tyronn Lue has created.

Earlier in the day, the mayor of Toronto (a prestigious and respected position in recent years, natch) got Mad On the Internet based on a misreading of a meaningless CBSSports.com poll that listed the options for the NBA champion as Golden State, OKC, Cleveland and Other. The poll had been created before Game 7 of Toronto-Miami. That didn’t stop said mayor from producing an overwrought, silly letter to CBS’s CEO! Good grief, people.

Game 2 is Thursday.

ON THE AIR TONIGHT: No additional hype creation is needed for Game 2 of Thunder-Warriors in Oakland. It’s on at 9 p.m. ET on TNT.

OK, A LITTLE HYPE: Michael Lee on why the Thunder aren’t going away. Some intriguing, innervating Draymond Green quotes in this Sam Amick piece.

THE PROCESS PAYS OFF: The Sixers won the NBA Draft lottery as the order did not change at all. It’s the Sixers’ first No. 1 pick since the franchise pursued institutional tanking; ironically, it comes months after Sam Hinkie, the architect of the plan that got Philadelphia here, was nudged out by the Colangelos. The Sixers will choose between Brandon Ingram and Ben Simmons; if they pick the wrong guy, Hinkie might have cause to lead a coup in coming years. I think he’ll be able to find the requisite army! Sixers fans are nuts.

The Lakers will pick No. 2 and gladly take the leftover star. Boston will pick third, Phoenix fourth and Minnesota fifth. Here’s the full draft order. And here are seven things every fan should know heading into this draft.

Zach Lowe shares an account from inside the room where the lottery balls popped.

LET’S MOCK: In our first post-lotto mock draft, Kevin O’Connor puts Ingram in Philly, Dragan Bender in Boston and lets Kris Dunn drop to the Kings, which makes me a big fan of this mock draft!

AND ONE: I wrote about how bizarre and silly and important the lottery is as an event.

A NEW HIGH BAR ON INTRALEAGUE TWITTER COMMUNICATION.

LET’S REVOKE THE ‘NOTORIOUS JVG’ MONIKER: Jeff Van Gundy is out here saying “on fleek” in 2016, misquoting DJ Khaled and giving bad high fives. His brother is the cool one.

HERO: What Wayne Embry went through as the first black general manager in the NBA in his native Ohio.

FASCINATING: Alex Wong digs into the business of those free playoff t-shirts and the myriad decisions that go into them.

YOU KNOW WHAT’S COOL? GQ Style talks to Maverick Carter, who negotiated LeBron’s BILLION-DOLLAR Nike contract. (This movement by Internet People to act as if LeBron’s BILLION-DOLLAR deal isn’t a big deal, and that LeBron may in fact be getting took by Nike, is hilarious.)

OH GOOD: Jimmy Butler used his time at the lotto to spark up more Derrick Rose intrigue.

THE OTHER J.R.: Scott Cacciola on the dichotomy between Knicks J.R. Smith and Cavaliers J.R. Smith.

OH YES: I will read pregame/postgame fashion reviews every single day, especially when Russell The God is involved.

Happy Wednesday. See you next time.