BOSTON — LeBron James embarrassed every defender Boston threw at him and the Cleveland Cavaliers picked up where they left off following a long layoff, rolling to a 117-104 victory over the Celtics on Wednesday night in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

James had 38 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.

“He’s playing at a high level. And that’s the reason why we’re riding him so much,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “When LeBron’s playing at that level other guys just have to be solid and we have a good chance to win.”

Coming off a 10-day break, James and Cavaliers raced to an early lead were never threatened.

“You can’t dig yourself in a big hole like that against them,” Boston coach Brad Stevens said.

Kevin Love added a playoff career-high 32 points and had 12 rebounds to help the Cavaliers improve to 9-0 in the first three rounds of the playoffs. They opened 10-0 last season en route to their first NBA title.

Game 2 is Friday night.