LeBron James playing the Toronto Raptors is like a five-year-old you going against your father on a Nerf hoop. 

After another beatdown on Wednesday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers went up 2-0 on the Raptors. It was a dominant 125-103 win for the Cavs, and, yet again, James was doing literally whatever he wanted. The King followed up his 35-point performance in the first game with 39, and he threw in six rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks.

He’s been so unstoppable that Raptors guard DeMar DeRozan is putting a bounty on his head. “If you can find somebody to stop LeBron in these moments, I’ll give you $100,” jokingly said DeRozan to ESPN’s Brian Windhorst after Wednesday’s contest. If one Benjamin can find a LeBron-stopper, Toronto would have the steal of the century, because Serge Ibaka, PJ Tucker nor anyone else is going to get that bill.

LeBron’s picked apart the Raptors defense with surgical precision and — dare I say — he’s been Jordan-esque. (There! I said it!) What that means is simple — he’s getting any shot he wants whenever he wants it. In the two games, James has 37 field goal attempts. Of those, 11 have come from three. Additionally, he’s gone to the free throw line 29 times, and that includes 21 from Wednesday. His slash line reads as follows: 62.2 percent overall, 54.5 from three and 75.9 from the line.

Ibaka isn’t quick enough to guard him even though he has the strength and athleticism to take a few body blows. Tucker, who the Raptors brought on almost exclusively for this purpose, can stay with him when he’s going East-West, but, once James starts going downhill, helps needs to come. And fast. Not being able to guard LeBron isn’t a knock. A single defender seldom stops a great player. It takes a team effort, but sometimes they’re in such a zone that even that doesn’t work.

All Dwane Casey can ask is that guys force him into tough shots. I don’t think Ibaka got that memo.

He let LeBron do his free throw routine from three-point territory. James looked down at the basketball and spun it around his hand not once, but twice. He then drilled the triple right in Ibaka’s mouth. If you let that happen, it’s pretty much over.

As cocky and arrogant (and hilarious and entertaining) and that act was, the most disrespectful part of the series is that LeBron isn’t enforcing his will from every angle. In two games, James has totaled just eight assists. Kyrie Irving has been doing much of the facilitating, and he’s handed out 21 while committing just five turnovers. We all know James loves to play point-forward and make his teammates look good, but it’s starting to feel like all he cares about is sweeping Toronto and getting rest for the Conference Finals.

James doesn’t like he needs to be so controlling; like Toronto isn’t worthy of his Hall of Famer versatility. From what I’ve seen, LeBron’s inner monolog went a little something like this.

“They aren’t worth your time, King. Don’t bother getting everyone else involved. Do it yourself. Pummel these guys into extinction. Can you believe some people have the Raptors upsetting you? Not gonna happen.”

Think about it, when have we seen James actively defer from deferring to others? For the season, he averaged a career-high 8.7 helpers, and that jumped up to 9.0 against Indiana in the first round. Only eight in two games? It’s bizarre. Over the last two postseasons, James has hovered around eight dimes, and the last time we saw him with so few assists was 2014. It was his final year with the Heat, and the 4.8 a night is far below what we were accustomed. During the Finals that year, he had just 20 total assists despite the two All-Stars besides him. What’s intriguing is how he didn’t have more based on attention alone.

James was scorching that series and shot 57.1 percent from the field and averaged 28.1 points, but the Spurs must’ve felt that they were better off letting LeBron do his thing.

Last year, LeBron did something similar to what he’s doing now. The circumstances were different, and the two-way dominance that he showcased was because his back was against the wall. When he dropped 41, 16 and seven, it was because he needed to. What’s happening in this year’s semifinals is rooted in breaking morale and crushing any hopes of winning. James wants to defeat the Raptors mentally.

Cleveland still has to win two games to advance, but, we’ve never seen LeBron toy with his prey like this.

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