Remember when LeBron James said he didn’t feel as though the Cleveland Cavaliers played well in their Game 1 win?

Some were surprised and headlines were made. After all, the Cavaliers led the Boston Celtics wire-to-wire and dominated in a 13-point win on the road after waiting what seemed like weeks for the Eastern Conference Finals to start.

Turns out he was right.

The Cavaliers looked unstoppable on Friday night as they won 130-86, and after looking lost on Wednesday night, the Celtics appeared shockingly listless in Game 2. 

Boston actually avoided a very early knockout punch from Cleveland. The Cavaliers called a timeout after a pair of Isaiah Thomas free throws brought the Celtics to within 11-10 six minutes into the game. But after those points, the only two Thomas would score, the Cavs ran off 12 straight and never looked back.

On the heels of that game-changing run, James made sure the Celtics lost all hope with a sequence that took less than two minutes to unfold. 

Avery Bradley leaked out on a Cleveland turnover and drove towards the basket for what looked like a rare easy bucket for the Celtics. What he couldn’t see was James galloping down the court like a cheetah hunting a wounded calf. As Bradley went up with his right hand, LeBron swiped with his left. It wasn’t the Andre Iguodala chase-down block, but it was impressive nonetheless.

James followed that up by finding Tristan Thompson for a basket, making a 22-foot jumper and delivering a pinpoint pass to Kyle Korver for a catch-and-shoot three. Game time elapsed? 92 seconds. 

“We’ve been having this talk for a long time now, but he’s playing at an unbelievable level and he’s really setting the tone early for us in these games,” Tyronn Lue said afterward. “When we’re getting stops defensively and we’re guarding the way we’ve been guarding, he’s able to get out in transition and get to the basket. When he’s making his three-point shot, you’re in for a long night.”

The largest halftime margin in the history of the NBA playoffs was set in this one with Cleveland leading 72-31. The only things of note for the Celtics were negatives. Their two best players, Thomas and Al Horford, didn’t make a field goal in the first half. They had as many made baskets as turnovers. Cleveland made 15 more shots and grabbed more offensive rebounds.

“We just said we’re going to go out, we’re going to try to play the next play the right away, and go from there,” Brad Stevens said of what he told his team during the break. “I don’t know what else you say in that moment. The guys are really down. There’s one thing to be down 18 or 20, but when you’re down 41, that’s quite a hill to climb.”

Thomas didn’t return to the game in the second half (right hip strain), but his absence in the final two quarters wasn’t an excuse for the drubbing the Celtics received at TD Garden. The damage had been done. The Celtics narrowly outscored the Cavaliers in the fourth quarter, but Cleveland was still able to add a few points to their final margin of victory over the final 24 minutes.

There was no Game 7 in the rearview mirror. The shine of getting the first overall pick had worn off (even if momentarily) after the Game 1 loss. They knew what the Cavaliers were going to do -- what they’ve done all season, according to both Thomas and Brad Stevens.

Still, there was no answer.

“It’s honestly just embarrassing,” said Avery Bradley, who went 6-for-17 with 13 points. “They came out, not only playing harder but knocking down shots and I think that made it that much worse but credit to those guys.”

Embarrassing. Humiliating. Disconcerting. There is an endless supply of adjectives that could be used to described what the Cavaliers did to the Celtics in Game 2. 

There is one adjective, though, that you won’t hear come from the Cleveland locker room. While the defending champions are undoubtedly happy to have taken the first two games of the series on the road, they are far from satisfied. 

“We’re just trying to get better. I also told you we had another level. You looked at me crazy,” LeBron said when asked about his team hitting another gear.

“I believe we have another level as well. As well as we played tonight, there are still some things we could have done better. We had a few bad turnovers offensively. We had a couple miscues defensively where we gave up some open looks. We can get better and that’s a positive for our ball club. There’s no complacency with us right now. There shouldn’t be. It’s the postseason, but we like the direction we’re headed right now.”

What’s in store for Games 3 and 4 if the Cavaliers can play better? 140 points? More than 25 made threes? Can LeBron best Michael Jordan’s 63, or is he playing too efficiently to take on that type of the scoring load?

Whatever they do, LeBron will want more. The only thing that can stop him is the hoisting of another trophy.