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With Arenas out, Butler leads Wizards against Cavaliers

May 2, 2008 - 1:35 PM Cleveland at Washington 7:00 pm EDT Eastern Conference first round Cavaliers lead, 3-2

WASHINGTON (Ticker) - With Gilbert Arenas officially out for the rest of the season, Caron Butler is keeping the Washington Wizards' playoff hopes alive.

Butler and the fifth-seeded Wizards try to force a decisive Game Seven when they return home on Friday to face the fourth-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers in Game Six of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Butler hit a driving layup with 3.9 seconds left on Wednesday to lift Washington to an 88-87 victory over the Cavaliers in Game Five of their first-round series.

The win came just hours after the team announced that Arenas will miss the remainder of the postseason to nurse his surgically repaired left knee.

The 28-year-old Butler finished with a career playoff high of 32 points and added nine rebounds and five assists.

"Caron is strong enough and skilled enough to beat good defense and he's smart enough and veteran enough to know when to make a play," Washington coach Eddie Jordan said.

LeBron James, who poured in 34 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and added seven assists in Game Five, had an opportunity to trump Butler's score and win the series, but Cleveland's superstar drove into a clogged lane and his shot rolled off the rim as the horn sounded.

"When I saw the ball that (James) shot rolling on the rim, I thought, 'This is our season right here,'" Butler said. "Then everyone started jumping around and celebrating, but I didn't celebrate yet because of what happened in the Philadelphia game.

"I thought they might have blown a whistle and wanted to review it, but once I saw everyone going to the locker room, I started celebrating."

The win was also Washington's first win in Cleveland since 2006 and Jordan likes his teams chances heading back home.

"We said we had to win here to win the series," he said. "So we got this one. I think we are going to play great on Friday. I'm not predicting a win but I think we are going to play great on Friday and then we bring it back here."