Washington (42-40) at Cleveland (50-32) 8:00 pm EST
CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- The Cleveland Cavaliers made the most out
of their first playoff series in eight years. On Wednesday, the
Washington Wizards are looking for revenge.
The Cavaliers will take on the Wizards in a playoff rematch in
the season opener for both teams.
In last season's first round, Cleveland used two game-winning
shots by LeBron James to defeat Washington in six games. The
Cavaliers won the final two games of the series in overtime,
including a 114-113 victory in the series-clinching Game Six.
Damon Jones hit the game-winning shot in the waning seconds to
send Cleveland to a second-round series against Detroit, where
the Cavaliers came up short against the Eastern Conference power
in seven games.
In 2005-06, James averaged 31.4 points, 7.7 rebounds and 6.6
assists per game to lead Cleveland to a 50-win season and their
first playoff appearance since the 1997-98 campaign.
But the 21-year-old superstar could not win a title on his own.
Acquired as a free agent prior to the 2005-06 season, Larry
Hughes was expected to help James raise the Cavaliers to new
heights. However, Hughes was limited to 36 games due to
injuries and never developed any cohesion with his star
teammate.
As impressive as James was last season, Gilbert Arenas had a
career campaign of his own. Arenas finished fourth in the NBA
in scoring at 29.3 per game.
Washington signed free agent DeShawn Stevenson in the offseason
to offset the loss of forward Jared Jeffries, who signed with
the New York Knicks.
Stevenson will join Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison, who
combined with Arenas to form one of the most formidable scoring
trios in the NBA.
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