LeBron James is leading the Cavaliers to another dominating performance in the Eastern Conference playoffs.

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The Cavs are back in the Eastern Conference finals after sweeping the Raptors in the second round Monday (AEDT), and a James-led team is back in that position for the seventh straight season.

We've seen this kind of one-sided dominance in a conference before. James' run is strikingly similar to the run that the "Showtime" Lakers put on from 1982-89 with eight straight appearances in the Western Conference finals. Here’s a closer look:

(Numbers for James' teams stretch from his stints with Miami and Cleveland from 2010-present. Numbers for the Lakers stretch from the 1982-1989 playoffs.)

https://images.daznservices.com/di/library/sporting_news/3a/11/lebron-james-and-showtime-lakers_17ffb1cldt0mz1auicjngpyko9.png?t=-208045805&w=500&quality=80

Conference playoff record

LeBron: 80-20, .800

Showtime: 79-21, .790

Lowdown: Amazing when you consider the 100-game track record on both sides. LeBron’s dominance of the Eastern Conference the last seven years is almost identical to that of the Lakers in the Western Conference in the 1980s. The Lakers lost one series in that stretch, but they were pushed to seven games only twice, both coming in 1987-88 against the Jazz and Mavericks, respectively.

First two rounds

LeBron: 56-9. .861

Showtime: 50-9, .847

Lowdown: The Cavaliers are 24-2 in the first two rounds since James returned, and that includes five 4-0 sweeps. The Lakers went 18-0 in first-round games, which were best-of-five at the time, when the playoff format expanded in 1983-84.

Conference finals

LeBron: 24-11, .686

Showtime: 29-12, .707

Lowdown: James finished 16-9 in the conference finals with the Heat and has led the Cavaliers to an 8-2 record over the past two seasons. This does not include the conference final trips he led Cleveland to in 2006-07 and 2008-09. Outside of the eight-year run from 1982-89, Los Angeles also made the conference finals in 1979-80 and 1990-91. Of the two teams, Los Angeles’ loss to Houston in the 1985-86 conference finals is the lone difference.

NBA Finals

LeBron: 17-18, .486

Showtime: 19-21, .475



Lowdown: Again, very similar. The Lakers won four of seven NBA championships in that that eight-year stretch. Magic Johnson also led Los Angeles to a championship in 1979-80 and a NBA Finals appearance against the Bulls in 1989-90. James’ only other NBA Finals appearance outside of the current run was in 2006-07. In the current six-year run, he’s won three NBA championships.