The AP reports: At game’s end, LeBron James was just as collected, drawing waves of Washington Wizards defenders before dishing to Delonte West for a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 5.4 seconds left. That shot, along with James’ 34 points and 12 rebounds, led the Cavaliers to a 100-97 victory on Sunday and a 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference playoff series… James got help Sunday from more than just West, whose career playoff-high 21 points included five 3-pointers. Daniel Gibson made four 3s, and Ben Wallace had 12 rebounds—part of a remarkable 51-31 edge on the boards for Cleveland. One small sequence that epitomized things: At the end of the third quarter, Joe Smith’s three-point play followed two offensive rebounds and gave the Cavaliers an 80-73 edge. Wizards coach Eddie Jordan was succinct: “We didn’t rebound.” Antawn Jamison led Washington with 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Caron Butler added 19 points. But it was Stevenson who was at the center of the key play. LeBron vs. DeShawn had been mainly an off-court rivalry, prompted in part by Stevenson calling James overrated, and extending to involve rap megastar Jay-Z and one-hit wonder Soulja Boy. James’ pal Jay-Z created a song dissing Stevenson that was played at a D.C. club this weekend.
InsideHoops.com Stat Notes: The Wizards shot a bit better than the Cavs from the field, but the Cavs nailed 13-of-28 (5 from Delonte West, 4 from Daniel Gibson and 3 from LeBron James) while the Wizards hit a respectable 7-of-19. But the Cavs dominated rebounding, 51-31 and dished 23 assists, the Wizards 18. For the Cavs, James had 34 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists. Delonte West (7-of-12, 5-of-8 threes) had 21 points. Gibson had 12. Ben Wallace had 0 points and 12 rebounds. For the Wizards, Antawn Jamison had 23 points, 11 rebounds and 3 steals. Caron Butler had 19 points and 4 assists. Brendan Haywood had 16 points and 6 rebounds. DeShawn Stevenson had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Gilbert Arenas wasn’t good, shooting 3-of-8 for 10 points, two steals, but more turnovers than assists.
