LeBron doused Boston with a giant bucket of cold water

One night after winning the No. 1 overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft, the Boston Celtics hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals. LeBron James, who has been resting up for like a month (10 days, actually), congratulated the Celtics as only he can: by destroying them.

LeBron had 38-9-7, the Cavaliers opened a fat lead early, and won 117-104. That doesn’t tell the whole story: LeBron was just so disrespectful to the C’s. What he did to Kelly Olynyk on this play — stunting around to draw attention before blowing by New Larry Bird with ease — is just a slap in the face and one of the greatest things I’ve ever seen. (Even Kyrie Irving got into the taunting.) Watching Jae Crowder and anyone else try to guard him? Boston, you need more people.

The best part: LeBron said afterward that he didn’t feel that good during the game, owing to all that time off between series. Watch out, Celtics!

No games on Thursday. The Cavaliers and Celtics are back at it on Friday and Sunday, with the Warriors and Spurs tangling in San Antonio on Saturday.

Chris Ballard on Steve Kerr’s absence as a true test of leadership.

Tom Haberstroh on what a destroyer LeBron has been when he has a few days of rest.

Ricky O’Donnell has been following Markelle Fultz’s development for years. He writes that Fultz is the only choice for the Celtics.

I wrote about the Philadelphia 76ers, who could potentially be the next Celtics. Meanwhile, Joel Embiid offers a definition of The Process.

The Law of Milkshake Duck holds that anything adored by the internet will eventually become problematic. LaVar Ball reached that level on Wednesday. (This had better never happen to Embiid.)

Is it a problem that Lonzo Ball may only work out for the Lakers? My position is that the Sixers (No. 3) or Kings (No. 5) would be unafraid of selecting him without a workout should L.A. pass up on him in favor of Josh Jackson.

Jonathon Simmons is going to get P-A-I-D this summer.