The Wizards played hard on Sunday afternoon but it just wasn’t enough to win the game. The Cavaliers outrebounded the Wizards 51-31 and that was a huge factor in this basketball game. The Wizards also couldn’t defend LeBron James who dropped 34 points, 12 rebounds and 7 assists on them in this game. His last assist was the back breaker as it was to Delonte West who hit a wide open three pointer with only 5.4 seconds left in the game. Antwan Jamison led the way for the Wizards with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Caron Butler also had a decent game with 19 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists. Brendan Haywood was also solid with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists. The Wizards are now down 3-1 in this series.

The Wizards competely dominated the Cleveland Cavaliers last night as they shot 52.1% from the floor while holding the Cavs to 39.7% from the floor which helps explain the final score. DeShawn Stevenson finally woke up as he led the Wizards with 19 points and 3 steals. Stevenson also shot an amazing 5 of 7 from three point range. Roger Mason was outstanding in 28 minutes off the bench as he finished with 18 points, 2 rebounds and 2 steals. Caron Butler had a solid game finishing with 17 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Antwan Jamison was busy again last night as he scored 15 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, stole the ball twice and blocked 2 shots. Brendan Haywood pitched in with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. The Wizards are now down 2-1 in this series but they are now alive.

Maybe the Wizards shouldn’t have fired up the Cavs with trash talking and cheap shots on LeBron James. A cheap shot on LeBron James by center Brendan Haywood fired up the Cavs. Haywood was ejected from the game on what looked more like a football tackle than a basketball play. James once again torched the Wizards with 30 points, 9 rebounds, 12 assists and 2 blocked shots….so much for him being “overrated”. The Wizards only shot 37.5% from the floor and they were outrebounded 49-34 which doomed them last night. Caron Butler led the way for the Wizards with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals on a woeful 4 of 13 shooting from the floor. DeShawn Stevenson finished up with 12 points and 2 assists but he fired up the Cavs with a gesture after a nice basket with his team losing by 16 points at the time. Damon Jones mocked Stevenson after he hit a three pointer to put the Cavs up 30 points. Darius Songaila put in a solid performance as he finished with 12 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 16 minutes off the bench. Antwan Jamison and Gilbert Arenas shot a combined 6 of 23 from the floor and they finished with 16 points, 12 rebounds and 4 assists between them. The Wizards better play better when they return home or they can start planning vacations for next week. The Cavaliers are now up 2-0 in this series.

Maybe the Wizards shouldn’t have riled up LeBron James who shot 12 of 19 from the floor and finished with 32 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 blocked shots. I wonder if DeShawn Stevenson still thinks he’s overrated? Gilbert Arenas led the way for the Wizards led the way for the Wizards with 24 points and 3 assists before fouling out in only 28 minutes on the floor. Antwan Jamison also had a great game as he finished with 23 points, 19 rebounds and 2 assists. Brendan Haywood had a solid game with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocked shots but he needs to do a better job of defending Ilgauskas. Caron Butler pitched in with 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. The Wizards might be able to beat the Cavs in this series if they can stop everyone but James. That wasn’t the case on Saturday however. The Cavaliers are up 1-0 in this series.

These two teams are deep and they know each other well after meeting two years in a row in the playoffs. Here is a breakdown of this series:

POINT GUARD: Gilbert Arenas came back late in the season and he usually raises his level of play come playoff time. He is not a pure point guard as he would rather shoot than pass. Arenas has more range as a shooter than almost anyone in the NBA, so if the Cavaliers leave him open to double team other Wizards “Agent Zero” will make them pay. Arenas played in 13 games (8 starts) this season for the Wizards and he has averaged 19.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals per game. Look for him to have better numbers than he did in the regular season against the Cavs.

Delonte West was added during the season in a trade with the Supersonics. Much like Arenas, West is not a pure point guard. He played in 26 games (all starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he averaged 10.3 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.1 steals per game.

EDGE: HUGE FOR WIZARDS

SHOOTING GUARD: DeShawn Stevenson is a decent player but he’s not someone you can depend on and he proved that last season against the Cavs in the playoffs. They needed him to step up with Arenas and Butler hurting and he didn’t. Stevenson played in 82 games (all starts) for the Wizards last season and he averaged 11.2 points, 2.9 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game.

The Cavaliers will probably be starting Devin Brown as Sasha Pavlovic is hurting right now. Brown is a decent player, but like Stevenson, he usually doesn’t raise his game when the team needs him to. Brown played in 78 games (20 starts) for the Cavs last season and he averaged 7.5 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game.

EDGE: PUSH

SMALL FORWARD: This is a matchup of two outstanding players. Butler has blossomed into a very good player at both ends of the court and he will make LeBron James work for every point he gets in this series. Butler played in 58 games (all starts) for the Wizards this season and he averaged 20.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.2 steals per game. Butler will also make LeBron James work on defense.

LeBron James is quite simply, the best player on the planet Earth. James played in 75 games (74 starts) for the Cavaliers this season and he averaged 30.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. James always plays well against the Wizards and he will be focused because of Gilbert Arenas running his mouth in the press.

EDGE: CAVALIERS

POWER FORWARD: Antwan Jamison is one of the most underrated players in the NBA. He played in 79 games (all starts) for the Wizards this season and he averaged 21.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Jamison will have his work cut out for him as Ben Wallace usually takes his game up a level in the post season.

The Cavaliers brought Ben Wallace in specifically for the playoffs. Coach Mike Brown values defense and hustle and those are two qualities that Wallace brings to the court every night. Just don’t expect him to score a lot. Wallace played in 22 games (all starts) for the Cavs last season and he averaged 4.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 0.6 assists and 1.7 blocks per game.

EDGE: WIZARDS

CENTER: Brendan Haywood had his best season of his NBA career in 2007-08 so it will be interesting to see if he can keep it up in the playoffs. Haywood played in 80 games (all starts) for the Wizards this season and he averaged 10.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 0.9 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas is the Cavs second option on offense. He played in 73 games (all starts) for the Cavaliers and he averaged 14.1 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.6 blocked shots per game. Ilgauskas does need to start dunking the ball instead of tipping it in, but that’s nitpicking as he is a really good basketball player.

EDGE: CAVALIERS

BENCH: Both of these teams have good benches. Point guard Antonio Daniels had to start most of the season for the Wizards and he is a good player. He played in 71 games (63 starts) for the Wizards this season and he averaged 8.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Roger Mason played in 80 games (9 starts) for the Wizards this season and he averaged 9.1 points, 1.6 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game. He can swing between small forward and shooting guard. Andray Blatche is the backup center for the Wizards and he really blossomed this season. He played in 82 games (15 starts) for the Wizards this season and he averaged 7.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 1.4 blocked shots per game. F/G Nick Young had a impressive rookie season for the Wizards and he will be a starter down the road. Young has played in 75 games (2 starts) for the Wizards and he averaged 7.5 points, 1.5 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. Power forward Darius Songaila also gave a good showing this season for the Wizards. He played in 80 games (13 starts) for the Wizards this year and he averaged 6.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game.

The Cavaliers have a very deep and talented bench. C/F Anderson Varejao is Mr. Energy off the bench for the Cavs. He played in 48 games (13 starts) for the Cavs this season and he averaged 6.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. Backup point guard Daniel Gibson really stepped up in the playoffs last season. Gibson played in 58 games (26 starts) for the Cavs this year and he averaged 10.4 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Gibson is one of the best outside shooters in the game as well as Wally Szczerbiak and Damon Jones. Wally Szczerbiak had a rough time in Cleveland after they acquired him from the Sonics. He played in 25 games (1 start) for the Cavs and he averaged 8.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. Joe Smith provides some muscle off the bench for the Cavs as the backup power forward. Smith played in 27 games (1 start) for the Cavaliers this season and he averaged 8.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 0.7 assists per game. Sasha Pavlovic is injured right now but he will be back before this series is over. Pavlovic played in 51 games (45 starts) for the Cavs this season and he averaged 7.4 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. Damon Jones is a shoot first point guard and his shooting is his only above average tool in basketball. He played in 67 games (3 starts) for the Cavs this season and he averaged 6.5 points, 1.1 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game. F/C Dwayne Jones will be sitting at the end of the bench for the Cavs. He played in 56 games (0 starts) for the Cavs this season and he averaged 1.4 points, 2.5 rebounds an 0.2 assists per game.

EDGE: CAVALIERS

PREDICTION: The Cavaliers will win a tough battle with the Wizards in 7 games.