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"Tonight, the Wizards came out with the right mindset. The crowd was terrific for the Wizards. They got energized and juiced by the crowd and they were the aggressor." - Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown
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 LeBron James down the right side, unloads and hits. Listen
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LeBron James was the lone bright spot for Cleveland.
Mitchell Layton
NBAE/Getty Images
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The Wizards tried to be something they’re not in the first two games of their First Round series with the Cavaliers. On Thursday night, Washington returned to their run-and-gun ways, and the Wine and Gold are still wondering what hit them.
The Cavaliers – who set a franchise mark by beating the Wizards by 30 points on Monday night in Cleveland – got a taste of their own medicine on Thursday in the nation’s capital, as Washington got back into in the series, blowing out the Cavaliers – 108-72.
The 36-point win – biggest in Wizards’ history – snapped the Cavaliers’ eight-game playoff win streak against the Wizards and narrowed Cleveland’s early lead in the seven-game series, 2-1.
Cleveland trailed by only four –21-17 – after one quarter, but that would be as good as it would get. The Wizards led by 13 at halftime and pushed their lead to 26 after three. The Cavaliers didn’t get closer than 20 the rest of the way.
Making matters worse for the Wine and Gold was the fact that Gilbert Arenas left the game with a sore knee in the second quarter and didn’t return. Washington still managed to shoot 52 percent from the floor, after shooting a combined 38 percent in the first two games of the series. The Cavaliers assumed that futility on Thursday night, hitting on just 39 percent of their shots.
“The Wizards scored easy baskets in their transition, whether it was off turnovers or flat out beating us down the floor,” said Coach Mike Brown. “Those are things we cannot allow if we expect to win on the road.”
LeBron James led the Cavaliers with 22 points, but the young King never fully got into gear – going 10-for-19 from the floor with seven boards, three assists, a steal and a blocked shot. LeBron didn’t hand out his first dime until the 5:44 mark of the third quarter.
On top of having to weather the Wizards fans’ taunts for four quarters, James also saw DeShawn Stevenson – who famously labeled LeBron “overrated” after a meeting in March – have his best game of the seven games he’s played in the series, going 5-for-7 from beyond the arc to lead Washington with 19 points.
“Well, we definitely didn’t play well tonight,” said James. “We can’t carry this over to Game Four. They completely dominated us tonight on both ends – they executed, they shot the ball well, they defended us well. We know Sunday we can’t come out and play like this.”
The Wizards were the aggressors from the opening tip, forcing the Wine and Gold into 23 turnovers that lead to 30 Washington points. LeBron, Delonte West and Daniel Gibson each turned the ball over four times, with Z and Devin Brown adding three apiece.
“They made shots and we missed shots,” added West. “We aren’t worried about how much we lost by. We are focused on preparing for Sunday now.”
The Cavaliers were anemic from beyond the arc on Thursday night – three nights after shooting 52 percent from home run range in the 116-86 blowout on Monday. Devin Brown canned a pair of three-pointers and those two were the only long-distance shots the Wine and Gold connected on all night. Cleveland finished 2-of-16 – good for 12.5 percent.
Brown was only the only Cavalier to net double-figures, finishing with 10 on 2-of-8 shooting. Brown added eight boards and a pair of assists in 23 minutes off Mike Brown’s bench.
The other bright spots for the Cavaliers were few and far between. Anderson Varejao led both clubs with nine boards and Cleveland out-rebounded Washington by five. But the sunshine ends there, as the Wine and Gold were dominated in points in the paint – 46-30 – on the fast break – 19-8 – and in turnovers (23-11) and assists (20-17).
The Cavaliers made 10 fewer trips to the stripe than Washington only hit on 52 percent when they got there.
The Wizards had five players in double-figures, led by Stevenson. Roger Mason followed up with 18 points – seven of which he scored consecutively to begin the second quarter. Caron Butler added 17, Antawn Jamison finished with 15 and Brendan Haywood, 14.
The Cavaliers will practice on Friday and get themselves ready to rediscover their mojo before Game 4 on Sunday afternoon at the Verizon Center.
NOTES
Game Three in D.C. turned out to be a star-studded affair. Seated courtside were University of Tennessee men’s basketball coach, Bruce Pearl, Seattle Supersonics rookie, Kevin Durant, Chris Hansen, host of MSNBC’s “To Catch a Predator,” and of course, Souljah Boy.
NBA Commissioner David Stern spoke before the game. Naturally, the non-suspension of Brendan Haywood was at the forefront of the questioning. Asked if he thought Haywood should have been suspended, the Commish was succinct and, of course, politically correct. “No, that’s what people who analyze it, review it, look at it in slow-motion replay and compare it to something are for. And rather than banging the table and saying I’m somehow more expert than they are … I just trust their judgment.”
LeBron James was asked pre-game is the booing or being treated as the “villain” ever bothers him on the road. “When opponents fans know you can do something – and do something very well – they tend to vibe with you and they tend to say things to you that they don’t say to guys they’re not threatened by.”
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