NBA playoff scores 2016: LeBron James’ longtime dominance in the East isn’t slowing

LeBron James is now two wins away from his sixth straight Eastern Conference championship. In a conference by himself, James is once again turning it into his own personal playground.

Let's make sure this sunk in: James is on the verge of six straight trips to the NBA Finals. It's not a guarantee yet, as the Cavaliers have gone up only 2-0 on Toronto after Thursday's 108-89 win in Game 2, and it's no disrespect to the Raptors, either. No, it really just doesn't seem like the two teams are even on the same level, not even on the same planets. There's Toronto, toiling away on the ground floor, desperately trying to gain ground only to see a few small slipups transform into a double-digit deficit. And then there are the Cavaliers, tossing in buckets high above in the stratosphere without a care in the world.

Of course it's not all about James, not when Kyrie Irving is leading the team in scoring and Kevin Love is scoring 19 points on eight shots. Clearly, the fire that the Cavaliers used to burn the Pistons and torch the Hawks involved much more than James alone. But he's at the epicenter. He's the gear in the middle that makes all the other ones turn. He's the Grim Reaper, walking the Eastern Conference endlessly and ending the playoff lives of any team he comes in contact with.

When James decides he wants a two-week vacation in the middle of the year, can you blame him? When he decides, "You know, I'm not going to run back on this fast break," don't you get it? Gregg Popovich preaches to the Spurs that it's not about the regular season all throughout the 82-game schedule, which works well for them out West. But for James, it's not just the regular season -- it's the next three rounds, too. Sure, Miami and Cleveland have had a couple tough series mixed into the past six years, but in the past six years James has been to only two Game 7s and three Game 6s prior to the finals. That's right -- all 13 other series were over in five games or fewer.

Cleveland's clicking at an almost supernatural level. A potential finals series against the Warriors would still have Golden State favored, you'd have to assume, but look at the way the Cavaliers have carefully and brutally dismantled teams this postseason and that's anything but a safe bet. The Warriors have mastered their craft, but the Cavaliers are healthy. If there was ever a team to disrupt Golden State's inevitability, if Oklahoma City isn't that roster (and they probably aren't), then a LeBron James-led squad would be it.

Jonas Valanciunas wouldn't fix this

Toronto needed two Game 7s to advance to the conference finals, just squeaking by against the Pacers and Heat in a way that seemed more pitiful than historic. (This is the Raptors' first conference finals and first time past the first round since 2001.) And make no mistake, there is something dangerous brewing in Toronto, so maybe hold up before making fun of them for this slightly shameful crawl to an execution-by-Cavaliers this round.

I don't see any way for Toronto to get back in this series barring combined DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry supernovas for four straight games. (That won't happen.) As the Raptors struggle to keep up in the points column, they do miss Valanciunas, their starting center, still developing, with a wicked post game. But his presence wouldn't fix the problems that Toronto has and definitely wouldn't slow down Cleveland at the rim. In fact, stats from the regular season show that the Cavaliers actually did better at the rim when Valanciunas was present -- they shot 21-of-31 within five feet of the rim with him there against 23-of-49 with him off the court.

A couple Lakers teams have done 11-0 before: that is, sweeping the first three playoff series, back when the first round was only five games long. Here's the list (shown during the game, before the Cavaliers finalized a 10-0 start).

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