WASHINGTON — LeBron James passed the basketball, but his teammates, coach and playoff opponent passed the credit right back to him.
James penetrated and kicked the ball to a wide-open Delonte West for a 3-pointer from the left corner with 5.4 seconds to go, propelling the Cavaliers to a 100-97 win over the Washington Wizards in Game 4 Sunday at the Verizon Center.
“Everybody in the gym had their eyes on LeBron,” West said. “I’m sure everybody in the gym, including their defense, thought LeBron was going to take the last shot.”
As he’s done so often in his five-year NBA career, James did the right thing and trusted a teammate. West’s shot, in fact, was remarkably similar to the one Damon Jones made on the same court to eliminate the Wizards in Game 6 in 2006.
“I think Washington definitely had a flashback,” said James, who finished with 34 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in 44 minutes. “We’ve hit some big shots on this court.”
West’s three, his fifth of the afternoon, put the Cavaliers up 3-1 in the best-of-seven series, meaning Cleveland can eliminate Washington from the postseason for the third straight year by winning Game 5 Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. at Quicken Loans Arena.
“That was a terrific play by LeBron,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. “That’s why he’s going to go down as the best player ever in this game. Not only can he score, not only can he rebound, he trusts his teammates.”
The Wizards had a chance to force overtime, but Gilbert Arenas, who had scored four straight points to tie the game prior to West’s 3-pointer, missed a three at the buzzer.
“Gil couldn’t come up with the magic at the end like normal,” Washington coach Eddie Jordan said.
James, as he’s done so often in his career, did. Despite going 3-of-10 from the field in the second half, including 0-of-3 while scoring just three points in the final quarter, the Akron native once again made a big play when his team needed it most.
After an off-balance Arenas hit an incredible, fallaway jumper from close range to tie the game at 97 with 28 seconds to go, the Cavaliers did what they always do down the stretch of close games.
“The only talk was to get the ball to LeBron,” Brown said. “He can figure it out from there.”
Actually, there wasn’t any talk at all because Cleveland didn’t even call timeout. It didn’t have to, because everyone knew the ball was going to be in No. 23’s hands.
With the shot clock winding down, James drove past DeShawn Stevenson toward the foul line, only to have Arenas come over to help. The 6-foot-8, 250-pounder then quickly dished to D.C. native West, who hit the biggest bucket of his NBA career to finish with 21 points.
“The play was really drawn up for everybody to get out of the way and let LeBron do what he does best,” West said. “He just read the defense. All eyes were on him.”
It was that way most of the afternoon, but unlike in Game 3, when they made just 2-of-16 shots from beyond the arc while losing by 36 points, the Cavaliers made the Wizards pay in Game 4. Cleveland made 13-of-28 from 3-point territory, with Daniel “Boobie” Gibson (4-of-7) and West (5-of-8) combining to go 9-of-15.
“The guys around me know they’re going to get looks from the (opening) tip all the way to the end of the game,” James said. “They just have to step up and knock them down.”
When the Cavaliers did miss, they often got a second — or even third — chance thanks to a 51-31 advantage on the boards. Ben Wallace (12 boards, four offensive) and Joe Smith (eight boards, five offensive) were particularly effective in that area, with Smith converting an extremely important three-point play with 0.3 seconds left in the third quarter to put Cleveland up seven.
“It seemed like every rebound they got, they converted on it,” said Antawn Jamison, who led the Wizards with 23 points and 11 rebounds. “Some of it was them working hard, but certain times the ball just bounced their way right off our fingertips.”
Cleveland’s dominance on the glass led to a 20-6 advantage in second-chance points, but another second-chance opportunity earlier in the game played just as big a role.
It looked like James was going to be called for his third foul with 6:28 to play in the second quarter, but veteran official Joey Crawford came in and gave the personal to Wallace.
Not long after that, Stevenson almost took James’ head off — his headband did go flying — and the 23-year-old took offense. The two went chest to chest and exchanged words, with Stevenson getting hit with a flagrant foul.
“I didn’t know he hit me with a closed fist until my teammates told me,” James said. “If we were at the park, something definitely would have escalated. I guess that’s what they want to do: They want to hurt LeBron. It ain’t happening.”
It was the Wizards who ended up getting hurt, as a fired-up James scored 12 points in a 23-5 Cleveland run to end the half, giving the Cavaliers a 54-44 lead at intermission. Included in James’ awesome display was a very long three — “I’ve got a big playbook, but none of them say pull up from 45 feet,” Brown said — a foul on a 28-foot 3-point attempt and a high-flying dunk off a Gibson lob.
“They continue to try to hurt me and I continue to get up,” James said. “It sparked me.”
After the Cavaliers went up 15 early in the third period on a 26-foot 3-pointer by James, the Wizards got a spark of their own, going on a 12-0 run to pull within three.
Every time it looked like Cleveland was in trouble, however, Gibson or West knocked down a big 3-pointer. As a result, the Wizards never tied the game until Arenas’ shot with 28 seconds to go.
“All eyes are on LeBron,” Brown said. “We’ve got to have guys step up and knock down shots like Delonte did, like Gib did. LeBron is going to find you.”
James proved that one final time in the closing seconds by drawing defenders and dishing to West.
“That,” Washington’s Jamison said, “is why he’s LeBron James.”
That, in turn, is why James answered the Wizards’ series-long trash-talking with just one word. Asked if he thought Washington could come back from a 3-1 deficit and win the series, James simply said, “No.”
Contact Rick Noland may be reached at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.

NEXT UP

WHO: Cleveland vs. Washington
WHAT: Game 5, Eastern Conference quarterfinals; Cavs lead series, 3-1
WHEN: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: The Q
TV/RADIO: FSN Ohio, Channel 43; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM
 

In order to comment, you must agree to our user agreement and discussion guidelines.

Need help? Email Us.