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Wizards look to even series vs. Cavs

Apr 27, 2008 - 1:08 PM Cleveland at Washington 1:00 pm EDT Eastern Conference first round Cavs lead, 2-1

WASHINGTON (Ticker) - The Washington Wizards and Cleveland Cavaliers both have protected home-court advantage so far in the series. But LeBron James hopes to change that on Sunday.

James and the Cavs look to bounce back after a disappointing effort last time out in Game Four of their Eastern Conference first-round series against the Wizards.

Washington finally broke through in the series in Game Three as DeShawn Stevenson scored 19 points to lead four players in double figures en route to a 108-72 rout Thursday.

It was the first postseason win for Washington over Cleveland in its last eight tries.

The Wizards forced the Cavs into 23 turnovers and converted them into 30 points en route to their largest margin of victory in club playoff history. Washington also held Cleveland to a franchise playoff low point total.

"They really turned up the pressure defensively," James said. "They caught us off guard at times. ... You can't turn the ball over that many times. We turned the ball over more today than we did in the past two games. That ain't going to cut it on the road, especially in the postseason."

James should get another heavy dose of taunting from the crowd at the Verzion Center, as they chanted "Overrated! Overrated! Overrated!"

Washington guard Gilbert Arenas, who left with a bruised left knee after playing just 10 minutes, hopes to be back in the starting lineup.

"He's got two days to get his legs back under him, and I think he's going to be OK for Sunday afternoon," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "He didn't reinjure it. It just aches, it's sore. It may be a pinched nerve, which to us is very manageable."

If the Cavs expect to rebound in this one, they would need a better overall performance out of center Zydrunas Ilgauskas, who was held to just nine points on 4-of-10 shooting.