Zydrunas Ilgauskas flips up two of his 20 points in Sunday's win.
Nathaniel S. Butler
NBAE/Getty Images
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What a difference one year makes.
In the Cavaliers’ First Round playoff series against the Wizards last season, Zydrunas Ilgauskas couldn’t get started – netting less than ten points and six boards in six frustrating games.
This year, he couldn’t be stopped.
The Large Lithuanian’s massive 20-point, 19-rebound effort on Monday night led the Cavaliers into the Second Round for the second straight season as Cleveland worked over Washington – 97-90 – to complete the four-game sweep of the short-handed Wizards.
Big Z -- the Cavaliers' last link to their playoff past -- averaged 19 points and 11 boards in the four-game set.
“It’s obviously nice to help the team the way I have in this series, and hopefully I can continue doing that,” said the soft-spoken Z. “I know it’s going to get tougher; the teams are going to get tougher, but I’m glad we performed well.”
But it wasn’t just Ilgauskas who did the damage in the hard-fought series-clinching win. Larry Hughes made one big shot after another in the second half and LeBron James did … well … everything else.
James averaged 36 points per contest in last year’s white-knuckle week-and-a-half with the Wizards, but this time around he trusted his teammates to hit the big shot in the clutch. James still managed to lead the Cavaliers with 31 points on Monday, but also dished out a team-high seven dimes to go with 11 boards, three steals and a blocked shot.
“I always want my teammates to shine,” said LeBron. “I don’t like having it by myself. Anytime my teammates do well, I’m more happy for them than they are for themselves.”
For the series, James averaged 27.8 points, 8.5 boards and 7.5 assists.
Last season, the Wizards and Cavaliers staged one of the most exciting and dramatic First Round series in recent memory, with Cleveland winning the final three games by a single point each. But Washington began the 2007 Playoffs without the services of two of their top three players – Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler – and the Cavaliers handled them in business-like fashion in four less-than-riveting affairs.
After not advancing past the First Round for 13 seasons before 2006, the Wine and Gold will once again play in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the winner of the New Jersey-Toronto series. The Nets currently lead the seven-gamer – 3-1 – with Game 5 scheduled for Tuesday night in Toronto.
The Cavaliers used a collective effort from their four starting veterans to overcome a scrappy Wizards club on Monday. There were nine lead changes and the game was tied 11 times in the first half alone at the Verizon Center, with Washington taking a three-point lead – 47-44 – after two quarters of play.
A pair of three-pointers by Antawn Jamison and Jarvis Hayes bumped the lead to nine with just over one minute expired in the second half. But shots by James, Ilgauskas and Drew Gooden – and more solid free-throw shooting from Larry Hughes – brought the Cavaliers back to within one just minutes later.
LeBron James layup with 28 seconds to play in the third gave the Cavaliers the lead back at 66-65.
The two clubs went back and forth to start the final period, but just over halfway through the quarter Ilgauskas and Hughes caught fire. Hughes canned three straight jumpers to keep the Cavaliers within striking distance and that’s when the Big Z Show took over.
With 1:46 to play and the Cavaliers clinging to a one-point lead – 89-88 – LeBron drove baseline and dished off to Ilgauskas the minute he felt the double-team. Z laid the ball in to put Cleveland up three.
After Eric Snow flummoxed Jamison into a crucial turnover on Washington’s next possession, it was James once again who lured a second defender to him before kicking it over to Z – this time poised 16-feet from the hoop. Ilgauskas calmly canned the jumper and the Cavaliers were up five – 93-88.
As he had all series, Larry Hughes drilled a pair of free throws to seal the deal and the Cavaliers closed out the seven-game series with their fourth win over Washington – and eighth straight dating back to the regular season.
“I was really just trying to be patient – I think I could have shot that shot a lot in this series,” said Hughes. “We wanted to get the ball to the weak side, and I saw a couple of openings in my range.”
Ilgauskas and Hughes finished with 10 points apiece in the fourth quarter.
Z was 9-for-16 from the floor and 2-for-2 from the line to go with a team-high two blocked shots. Hughes was 5-for13 from the field and a perfect 8-for-8 from the stripe for 19 points.
Drew Gooden rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures with 14 points – 10 in the first half – and eight boards.
The Wizards were led – as they had been in each game – by Jamison, who turned in yet another valiant effort with 31 points on 12-for-25 shooting. The former Tar Heel was 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and 4-for-5 from the stripe.
“We love what we do and this is an opportunity of a lifetime,” said Jamison. “There are a lot of guys and a lot of teams that wish they were in the playoffs. We didn’t make excuses, and a lot of people counted us out. But guys kept their heads high and played hard.”
Antonio Daniels, who also had a fine series filling in for the injured Arenas, chipped in with 13 points and a game-high 12 assists. Darius Songaila added 16 points off Eddie Jordan’s bench in the losing effort.
“We have good character,” praised Wizards coach Eddie Jordan. “We have a locker room that was solid, and we have good leadership in Antawn and Antonio Daniels. It is a terrific locker room because we get that effort every night.”
The Cavaliers will have a short respite while they watch the Toronto-New Jersey series that will determine their Second Round foe. Last year, the Cavaliers came right off an emotionally-draining six-game series with the Wizards and were thrown right into the fire against Detroit.
But that was last year, and things are much different now.
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"I don’t have to win a game by scoring; I just have to control the pace and let the other guys take care of it." - Forward LeBron James
LeBron James finger-rolls the beautiful shot and is fouled in Monday's win. 
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