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James, new-look Cavaliers host slumping Wizards

Feb 22, 2008 - 1:39 PM Washington (25-28) at Cleveland (30-24) 8:00 pm EST

CLEVELAND (Ticker) - The Cleveland Cavaliers host the Washington Wizards on Friday, a day after being involved in one of the biggest trades in NBA history.

In an 11-player trade involving Cleveland, Chicago and Seattle, the Cavaliers acquired center Ben Wallace from the Bulls and forward Wally Szczerbiak from the SuperSonics. Cleveland sent guard Larry Hughes, forwards Drew Gooden and Cedric Simmons, and guard Shannon Brown to Chicago for Wallace and forward Joe Smith.

The Cavaliers acquired Szczerbiak and guard Delonte West from Seattle for forwards Ira Newble and Donyell Marshall. Cleveland will get the Bulls' second-round pick in 2009 and Seattle gets guard Adrian Griffin from Chicago.

The Cavaliers are coming off a 106-97 victory over Indiana on Wednesday as LeBron James had a triple-double of 31 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists. Cleveland has lost its last three home games by an average of 15 points.

Washington's 113-100 overtime loss to the New York Knicks was its ninth in the last 10 games.

"We've got to play with a sense of urgency because if we don't, things are going to get out of hand," said Wizards' All-Star forward Antawn Jamison. "We've got 29 games left and they're going to fly by."

All-Star forward Caron Butler has missed six straight games and nine of 11 with a strained left hip flexor. Butler's availability for Friday's game is uncertain. The teams have split the first two games of the four-game season series.