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Dynasty Raider · 04-29-2006, 08:32 AM

Last night after watching this game, I was on Cloud NIne --- just an awesome win. And, I'm so happy for LeBron because he carries so much on his shoulders --- but, so far he seems to be able to handle it all. Although, I worry about his fingernails/fingers

. He may not have enough skin to last thru the Finals.

Then ... I watched the Kings/Spurs ... another awesome game.

These two games have been the BEST in ROUND ONE. For my money, if the NBA IS rigging games they need to pay attention to these teams. No fixing necessary --- THESE ARE MEN!!!!

Just how much draw power would LBJ vs Artest have? (Man against the King). I think that would be a major draw. EVERYONE knows LBJ and EVERYONE knows about the BRAWL.

(Now, don't think I've given up on my team --- Clippers ---, I just don't have any faith in Dumb Leavy. He will cost the Clippers their chance)

**remy23** · 04-29-2006, 11:15 AM

Quote:

LeBron true to his word

By Tom Reed

WASHINGTON - Promise made, promise kept.

How often does that occur inside the Beltway?

LeBron James vowed to play better Friday night after a poor effort Tuesday against the Washington Wizards. He delivered in epic fashion at a stunned Verizon Center.

James scored 41 points and hit the game-winning basket with 5.7 seconds remaining to lift the Cavaliers to a 97-96 victory in Game 3 of this Eastern Conference playoff series. His heroics allowed the Cavs to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series, which resumes Sunday in Washington.

How is that for rebounding from one of his poorest outings as a third-year pro?

The 21-year-old James carried the Cavaliers to an improbable win. They had led for just 55 seconds in the game until James drove the basket, double-clutched and somehow converted a short shot as he was being hit by Wizards forward Michael Ruffin.

It silenced the crowd of 20,173 fans and again muted critics who say the kid is not clutch when it counts. It was the kind of play James' hero, Michael Jordan -- the lithe star of the Chicago Bulls, not the puffy reincarnation with the Wizards -- made routine.

James spent the entire fourth quarter dueling Wizards star Gilbert Arenas (34 points) and getting the better of his counterpart in the end. Arenas, who scored 17 fourth-quarter points, had a chance to win it, but his jump shot caromed off the rim.

Cavaliers teammates mobbed James, who tallied 14 points of his own in the frantic fourth.

WASHINGTON - Promise made, promise kept.

"I said I wouldn't have two bad games in a row,'' James said. "... Me being the kind of player I am, I had to counter-attack, and I was able to do that.''

James endured two days of scrutiny as his Game 2 performance was dissected. Never mind that he recorded a triple-double in his first playoff game.

Some wondered if his game could withstand the physical nature of the postseason. A Washington Times columnist opined that James "let his inner wimp show'' after absorbing two hard fouls in the first quarter of Tuesday's loss.

James was 7-of-25 shooting Tuesday. His performance had as much turnover as the Bush administration. He finished with an NBA playoff recording-tying 10 turnovers.

James studied film for two days. He spotted things he could correct: taking what the defense gave him and doing a better job reading the Wizards' defensive rotation.

"You'll see a different performance out of me,'' James said Thursday. "I'll be ready, I promise you.''

WASHINGTON - Promise made, promise kept.

James started slowly. He committed a turnover on his first touch. He went scoreless the first six minutes.

Then he started to heat up. He drove to the basket relentlessly. Anyone who expected him to be tentative in the lane was sorely disappointed.

He initiated contact, launching his 6-foot-8, 240-pound frame into the Wizards.

On several occasions he was seen intentionally bumping Wizards after shots.

Oh, James got help. Zydrunas Ilgauskas played his best game of the series with 15 points and eight rebounds. Larry Hughes, hampered by a balky middle finger on his shooting hand, contributed 16 points.

But James was the best player on the court this night. He scored 22 first-half points to help the Cavs cut into a 14-point Wizards lead.

He made an amazing diagonal pass to Ilgauskas to tie it at 67-67 in the third. In the fourth quarter, he hit 2-of-3 3-point baskets. OK, so it wasn't Joe Namath guaranteeing a Super Bowl win or Mark Messier notching a hat trick after vowing his team would avoid playoff elimination in 1994.

What James orchestrated Friday night, however, was pretty special.

WASHINGTON - Promise made, promise kept.

Quote:

James takes lane to gain 2-1 advantage

By Brian Windhorst
Beacon Journal sportswriter

WASHINGTON - There's a long history of thieves in Washington. And now you can include the Cavaliers.

With the tide and the breaks seemingly going against them in a long, hard night at the Verizon Center, the Cavs and their superstar miraculously persevered. Thanks to yet another record-setting performance and yet another game-winning shot, LeBron James willed his team to the upper hand in an intense series with the Washington Wizards.

James' off-balance, fall-away, hanging bank shot with 5.7 seconds left proved to be the difference in a heart-pounding, 97-96 win. With that mentally and physically clutch effort, the Cavs recaptured the homecourt advantage and claimed a 2-1 series edge. Game 4 is 7:30 p.m. Sunday.

James' 41 points set an NBA record for most by a player in his first road playoff game and capped a thrilling duel of play-making between James and Wizards star Gilbert Arenas. Arenas, who had 34 points, missed his attempt to answer when his wide-open 3-pointer just before the final horn rimmed out.

The Cavs trailed in 46 of the game's first 47 minutes and were down by 14 points in the first half. But despite getting spotty help from his teammates, James kept them in it by going 16-of-28 from the floor. Nothing, though, compared with his final shot.

Being guarded by Jared Jeffries, James ran a side pick-and-roll with Larry Hughes, who was being covered by Antonio Daniels. Daniels and Jeffries switched and James attacked. He faked a jumper and got Daniels off his feet, then went around him and jumped.

Michael Ruffin seemed to save the day when he blocked James' view and angle and stopped him from shooting with long arms and contact.

James started falling back to the court but on his way down lobbed the ball over Ruffin's fingers and off the glass.

"I didn't want to force a jump shot. I wanted to go into the paint,'' James said. "I was able to get (Daniels) off his feet and take the contact. It was a good play.''

It was James' third game-winning shot in the last month, but the stakes and challenge made this the biggest. Only moments before, he had taken a risk that could have cost the Cavs the game.

The Cavs went ahead with 30 seconds left on another impressive James driving layup in which he lost the ball in mid-air and then landed and went back up.

Then James tried to get it done on the defensive end by taking a charging foul. Arenas had spun free, and James set up outside the no-charge zone. The two collided, and the ball went in the basket. The officials called it a blocking foul on James. Arenas made the free throw to give the Wizards a 96-95 lead.

"That was a tough call, I don't take many charges and I took a big blow on that one,'' James said.

"It was over and done with, we still had a chance to win the game.''

It was not an unfamiliar situation for the Cavs, who have won numerous close games down the stretch. The Cavs are 14-2 in the last 16 games decided by four points or less.

None of it would have been possible, though, without a strong defensive effort in the third quarter. After letting the Wizards shoot 65 percent in the second quarter, the Cavs held them to just 13 points in the third. It enabled a run to tie the score heading to the fourth.

Hughes had 16 points but was just 6-of-15 shooting. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 15 points but was just 4-of-12 from the floor and fouled out with five minutes to play. Bench leaders Donyell Marshall and Flip Murray were a combined 2-of-14 for six points.

But the Cavs limited their turnovers -- just five over the last three quarters -- and got on James' back.

The Wizards blocked 12 shots and had their "Big Three'' going as Caron Butler supported Arenas with 20 points, and Antawn Jamison had 14. But they couldn't stop James.

"I had some unfortunate plays earlier in the season when I didn't capitalize. It made me a stronger player,'' James said.

"It paid off today.''

Quote:

Cavs, James put pedal to mettle

By Terry Pluto

WASHINGTON - Fans will be talking about how LeBron James carried the Cavaliers to a stunning 97-96 victory Friday night in Washington, giving them a huge 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.

Which he did.

But what must be noticed is the Cavs' toughness and composure in a screaming, sold-out Verizon Center, where 20,173 fans were pleading and pushing the hometown Wizards.

Yes the Cavaliers won a playoff road game, something more than a few fans probably thought was impossible after Tuesday's dismal 89-84 loss to these same Wizards at Quicken Loans Arena. If history means anything, the Cavs find themselves in excellent position as the team that wins Game 3 of a best-of-seven series tied at 1-1 goes on to win 73 percent of the time.

We saw James set a record for the most points scored by a player in his first road playoff game -- 41. The record was 40 by David Thompson and Kelly Tripucka.

We saw the Cavaliers regain the advantage in this series, thanks to some determined defense, holding a very potent Wizards team to only 38 points in the second half.

We saw more greatness from James, who promised to bounce back from his 7-of-25 shooting in Game 2.

But let's do more than look at the last basket of Game 3. More than seeing James drive past Jared Jeffries...

And past Antonio Daniels...

And right into 6-foot-8, 250-pound Michael Ruffin, James bouncing off him and somehow softly putting the ball off the glass and into the net for what became the game-winning basket with 5.7 seconds left.

Yes, that was the exclamation point on this night for the Cavaliers.

But it came only 18 seconds after Washington's Gilbert Arenas drove to the basket, crashing into James.

The Cavs' star clearly had the correct defensive position, and Arenas should have been whistled for a charging foul. Instead, James was nailed with a personal, and Arenas made a layup and a free throw for a three-point play and a 96-95 Washington lead with 23.4 seconds left.

This is where the Cavaliers and James showed their grit. It's where a playoff series might be decided. It's when the 21-year-old James realized that it made no sense to scream at officials. Rather, he knew that there was one more chance to win the game.

Which he did.

In fact, James scored eight of the Cavs' last 10 points.

James had to carry too much of the load this night. He did get some help from Larry Hughes (16 points) and Zydrunas Ilgauskas (15 points, eight rebounds).

The Cavs' bench players supplied little, though. In 58 minutes, the reserves accounted for 13 points on 5-of-19 shooting.

Donyell Marshall had 19 points in the playoff opener, the 97-86 romp in Cleveland. Since then, Washington has taken away his favorite shot -- the 3-pointer from the corner.

In Game 2, Marshall scored three points in 16 invisible minutes, as the 6-foot-9 forward didn't have a single rebound.

It was more of the same Friday night.

Marshall seemed to wander around the top of the key, then stand and watch as shots were missed.

But Marshall came alive in the final minute. He made a key block on a Ruffin layup. On the other end of the court, he rebounded his own missed shot, drew a foul, then made both free throws.

In 29 minutes, Marshall shot 1-of-8 for four points and four rebounds. The Cavs will need him to improve, because starting power forward Drew Gooden (eight points, eight rebounds) is playing with a painful left groin pull. He injured it in the second-to-last game of the regular season. During some timeouts, he is flat on his back, legs being stretched by a trainer. You can see his left leg heavily taped.

Flip Murray had a frustrating night (1-of-6 shooting, two points), but he made a key steal in the final minute. So even Marshall and Murray -- two guys struggling -- came through to help the Cavs ambush Washington.

But in the end, it came down to James. And again, he delivered.

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