Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big story line. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens has gushed about LeBron James throughout a first-round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers. James volleyed that praise after Cleveland’s Game 2 triumph on Tuesday night.

During an on-court interview with TNT, James said of a resilient Boston squad, “That’s a very well-coached team. Very well coached, very well prepared.”

That’s noteworthy praise on the same day that Stevens finished fourth in the coach of the year balloting. James complimented Boston, which rallied from 14 down in the second half to make things interesting before the Cavaliers posted a 99-91 triumph to take a 2-0 series lead.

ESPN Boston: LeBron on Celtics: “Very well coached team”

A lot of people said coming into this series (as I did last week) that if this series could demonstrate how good a coach Brad Stevens is, and show free agents that with some better players, this team could go places, then the Celtics would still win this series when losing.

And everything is going according to plan.

LeBron James when asked about his opponents last night was quick and effusive in his praise of Brad Stevens. TNT broadcasters remarked time and time again about Stevens’ ability to keep his team prepared and focused. For guys watching at home, waiting for July 1 so they can figure out the next phases of their careers, it was a seed planted in their brains.

“You know, LeBron is right, those guys are well coached. C-Webb’s been saying it all night too… hmmmm”

This isn’t a playoff series, it’s free advertising.

“Hey, NBA free agents… are you sick of your suck-ass team? Do you want a coach who knows what the hell he’s doing? Do you want an easier road to the playoffs in the East (or revenge on your current team, Kevin Love) and a chance to become a legend forever? Well look no further than beautiful BOSTON!”

And I’ll say this again because the message doesn’t seem to get through… A good team, with good owners, a great coach, and money to spend is a free agent destination. Boston has never gotten a premier free agent because (a) they really have never pursued one and (b) premier free agents don’t move as often as people think. So don’t let the misleading “Boston’s never gotten a free agent” thing fool you.

The Celtics have cap space, stable owners, a great GM, and now a coach that finished ahead of Gregg Popovich in the Coach of the Year voting that is now getting verbal fellatio during national playoff broadcasts.

If Danny Ainge was hoping to make the most of this playoff situation… and it’s clear that doesn’t involve lasting beyond Game 4 or 5… then this is the perfect situation.

Brad Stevens, on a pedestal, being sold to free agents without a single phone call having to be made.

The commercials are on the TV… now let’s hope the customers are buying the product in July.

Related links:  MassLive: Stevens: “Bad voting” put me ahead of Popovich

Page 2: It doesn’t take much time for Cleveland to steamroll you

“You know what? I thought they kicked it into a gear a little bit,” coach Brad Stevens said when asked whether Celtics error or Cavs superiority was behind it. “I thought one of the biggest things was when we built that seven- or eight-, nine-point lead in the first half and — Bang! — it’s back down to five or two or three.

“I think that that’s pretty typical of them. You know, you can feel like you’re going pretty well, and then you can feel like you’re getting steamrolled very quickly. We have to do a better job of responding, so those 9-0 runs don’t become 9-0 runs; they end at five and you score to kind of stem the tide. It’s easier said than done.”

Herald: Celtics stay close, then Cavs push them away

I’ve been constantly comparing this series to a boxing match.  The Celtics do, indeed, have the ability to go 12 rounds, fight the perfect fight, and win on the scorecards at the end. But the Cavs have the ability to take all that punishment and knock you out in any round.

It was particularly frustrating to go into halftime down 1 when the Celtics had spent probably 80% of that first half playing clearly better basketball than Cleveland. Unfortunately, that other 20% is too much to handle.

The good news is, the Celtics were clearly better than they were in Game 1.

“We made those guys earn everything they got,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said. “That’s a step in the right direction from Game 1. But I think still we can hopefully improve a little bit on those guys [James and Irving] but it’s the other stuff that’s magnified because you can’t get offensive rebounds when you work so hard on those two guys. If you hold them to 99 points, you have a shot to win and I thought our defense was drastically better tonight.”

Better but not good enough. The Celtics CAN take a game this series… probably tomorrow if it’s going to be any game at all. If they can fight the perfect fight, maybe they can take one of these games to the scorecards and win at the end.

Related links:  Herald: Green in tough spot with LeBron, Irving | CSNNE: Stevens: James & Irving “hard to stop”

And Finally….

Sully rockin’ specs from the Gloria Vanderbilt collection…

The rest of the links:

Globe: Cavaliers a nightmare matchup for C’s |  LeBron takes charge, leads Cavaliers past Celtics  |  Celtics unable to handle Cavs’ pressure  |  Herald: LeBron rules again  |  Ainge gives Thomas his vote for 6th Man  |  Blatt knows a thing or 17 about winning titles  |  Celtics hit glass ceiling  |  CSNNE: Welsh: Inexperience showed in 4th  |  Thompson comes up big on boards for Cavs |  ESPN Boston: James & Irving lead Cavs down the stretch  |  Celtics need to make their own breaks  |  WEEI: Evan Turner wasn’t too thrilled with some “crazy” calls  |  Stevens confidence in C’s, “We just have to be a little bit tougher” | 5 things we learned  |  MassLive: Crowder: LeBron & Irving not why Celtics dropped Game 2  |  Tristan Thompson the X factor again