James, Cavaliers hold off Wizards

Apr 7, 2007, 3:15 GMT

Washington, DC - LeBron James scored 25 points, as the Cleveland Cavaliers held off the battered and bruised Washington Wizards, 99-94, at the Verizon Center.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas posted 18 points and eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, who are three games behind Detroit in the Central Division. Larry Hughes scored 15 points, while Drew Gooden added 12 in the win.

Antawn Jamison scored 27 points for the Wizards, who are 2 1/2 games behind the Miami Heat for the top spot in the Southeast Division. Antonio Daniels notched 18 points and 12 assists, and DeShawn Stevenson had 17 points. Etan Thomas added 10 points and 14 boards.

The Wizards were already without forward Caron Butler because of a broken hand, and lost the services of All-Star guard Gilbert Arenas to ligament damage suffered in his left knee during Wednesday's 108-100 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. Arenas underwent surgery on Thursday and is expected to miss the remainder of the season.

With Cleveland holding a 91-87 lead heading toward the final minute, Ira Newble drew a whistle on Thomas, who fouled out on the play. He hit 1-of-2 free throws with 45.5 seconds left. Jamison then went to the line with 40.2 seconds remaining but missed on the front end to keep it a two-possession game.

James got fouled next and converted both free throws with 33.7 seconds left to put the Cavs back up by six, 94-88, and Daniels then went to the charity stripe for a pair of free throws to swing the margin back to four with 27 seconds on the clock.

James then got fouled again 1.3 seconds later but missed on the back end for a 95-90 margin. Darius Songaila scored on a layup with 17.9 seconds left to make it a one-possession game, as James got fouled yet again. He made both for a 97-92 Cavs lead.

Daniels then lost the ball, turning it over to Cleveland, which sealed the win on another pair of James free throws, as Daniels' dunk with 6.2 seconds on the clock was too late.

Ilgauskas' tip shot midway through the first quarter gave Cleveland an early 14-9 lead, but Washington went on a 12-0 run finished by a Stevenson jumper with 2:29 remaining. Cleveland answered right back with a 7-2 spurt and James' layup with just under a minute on the clock trimmed its deficit to 23-21 heading into the second.

Just as the Cavs edged a one-point lead at the two-minute mark of the second quarter, Washington rattled off nine straight. Stevenson scored on a fade away at the last second for a 53-45 Wizards lead at halftime.

The Cavs edged a 58-57 lead by going on an 11-0 burst capped by a James free throw just past the midway point of the third.

Game Notes

Friday's game between Cleveland and Washington was the third and final meeting of the regular season. Cleveland won the season series 2-1, but Washington has won four of six and six of the last nine matchups...Cleveland snapped a four- game losing streak at the Verizon Center.

© 2007 The Sports Network

Game Notes

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