CLEVELAND — LeBron James led the Cavaliers once again Wednesday night, but this time it was down the wrong path.
Everything would have been forgiven and forgotten had James scored on a potential game-winning drive at the buzzer, but in hindsight it was an ill-advised 3-point attempt about 80 seconds earlier that paved the way for the Washington Wizards to rally for an 88-87 victory in Game 5 at Quicken Loans Arena.
The Cavaliers still lead the best-of-seven series 3-2, but they really shouldn’t be heading back to Washington for Game 6 on Friday.
“We didn’t execute,” said James, who had 34 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists and five turnovers. “Being up five with 1:30 to go, I had the ball in my hands for the most part and I didn’t execute. I’m supposed to put us in a position to do the right thing and I didn’t do that.”
The Cavaliers looked like they would be awaiting the winner of the Boston-Atlanta series when Delonte West drove and converted a three-point play to put them up 87-82 with 1:47 to go.
Things looked even better when Zydrunas Ilgauskas got his first defensive rebound of the night with 1:41 left, then called time with 1:37 on the clock.
That’s when things started to unravel.
Instead of driving — he was 15-of-18 at the line on the night — James let the 24-second clock run down and settled for a 26-foot 3-point attempt that missed badly.
“I took a bad three and it triggered from there,” James said.
Did it ever.
The Wizards, who played without guard Gilbert Arenas, quickly got within three on a Caron Butler put-back with 1:05 to go. Not only did Daniel Gibson miss a 3-pointer on Cleveland’s next possession, but Joe Smith immediately fouled Antonio Daniels on the rebound. Just like that, it was 87-86 with 43.2 seconds left.
On Cleveland’s next possession, Smith missed a short baseline jumper — “Joe Smith had a 2-footer that was wide open,” Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said — and Ilgauskas couldn’t get a tip to fall, with Washington finally rebounding and calling time with 11.2 ticks on the clock.
An aggressive Butler, who finished with 32 points, nine rebounds and five assists, then drove around James and scored to put Washington up one with 3.9 seconds left.
“I was there the whole time, but he made a tough shot,” James said. “He was phenomenal the whole game.”
Everyone knew what was coming next, but James couldn’t deliver. He drove around DeShawn Stevenson and into the lane, but missed a runner as Washington’s Darius Songaila — the two almost got into it earlier in the game — made contact while turning his back to the Cleveland small forward.
“We finally got a miss,” said Wizards coach Eddie Jordan, whose team has lost numerous playoff games to the Cavaliers at the buzzer over the last three years.
As a result, Butler got what he asked for from James.
“I was messing with LeBron before the play started,” Butler said. “I said, ‘Make the series interesting. Let’s go back to D.C.’”
Though James complained about being fouled before leaving the court, he didn’t make any excuses in his postgame press conference.
“There was a lot of contact, but I’m supposed to make that,” the 23-year-old said. “I’ve made more difficult shots than that.
“That play right there isn’t why we lost the game. You can’t rely on me getting a foul (call) at the end of a ballgame.”
The Cavaliers should be able to count on making shots from point-blank range, but they couldn’t even do that.
Anderson Varejao failed to draw iron on three drives, Wally Szczerbiak missed a wide-open layup and Smith and Devin Brown couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. Combined, those four players were a woeful 3-of-23 from the field, a large reason why the Cavaliers shot just .360 overall (27-of-75).
“We must have missed 15 to 20 layups,” James said.
Other than James, the only Cleveland players who played well were Ilgauskas (19 points, 8-of-11 shooting) and perhaps West, who had 12 points, five rebounds and eight assists but went just 4-of-11 from the field. Gibson made three 3-pointers, but he gave up way more points than that at the other end of the floor.
Despite all that, the Cavaliers had control of the game with less than two minutes to go, only to give it away.
“We dodged a bullet at the end with the LeBron James drive,” Jordan said. “The good no-call was the same as the Caron Butler no-call (on a drive moments earlier).”
The good news for the Cavaliers is they still have two more chances to close out the Wizards. And if they happen to be in the same situation they were in at the end of Game 5, James will once again be the guy who determines the outcome.
“We put the ball in our best player’s hands and told him to go make a play like he’s done so many other times,” Mike Brown said. “That’s up to the referee to make the call. We’re a no-excuse team. We know we’re better than we played tonight.
“We have our closer. Our closer is LeBron. He made a play in Washington (to win Game 4 by passing to West). Tonight it was Caron Butler.”
Contact Rick Noland may be reached at (330) 721-4061 or rickn@ohio.net.

Wizards 88, Cavaliers 87

WASHINGTON (88): Butler 11-22 6-7 32, Jamison 3-10 1-4 8, Haywood 1-6 2-2 4, Daniels 5-9 2-2 12, Stevenson 5-14 5-6 17, Songaila 2-5 2-2 6, Mason 4-8 0-0 8, Blatche 0-0 1-2 1, Young 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 31-76 19-25 88.
CLEVELAND (87): James 8-21 15-18 34, Wallace 1-1 0-2 2, Ilgauskas 8-11 3-4 19, West 4-11 3-3 12, Szczerbiak 1-6 1-1 4, Varejao 1-6 1-2 3, Smith 0-6 1-2 1, Gibson 3-8 0-0 9, Brown 1-5 0-0 3. Totals 27-75 24-32 87.
Washington    23    22    24    19    —    88
Cleveland    16    27    22    22    —    87
3-Point Goals—Washington 7-19 (Butler 4-8, Stevenson 2-7, Jamison 1-3, Mason 0-1), Cleveland 9-25 (Gibson 3-7, James 3-9, West 1-3, Szczerbiak 1-3, Brown 1-3). Fouled Out—Haywood. Rebounds—Washington 54 (Jamison 11), Cleveland 53 (James 10). Assists—Washington 13 (Butler 5), Cleveland 18 (West 8). Total Fouls—Washington 24, Cleveland 20. Technicals—Songaila, Stevenson, Varejao. A—20,562 (20,562).

NEXT UP

WHO: Cleveland at Washington
WHEN: Friday, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Verizon Center
TV/RADIO: ESPN2; WEOL 930-AM, WTAM 1100-AM

---

Print this story
Report an inappropriate comment

---

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

Need help? Email Us.

---