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James, Arenas renew rivalry when Cavaliers face Wizards

Nov 18, 2006 - 3:34 PM Cleveland (7-2) at Washington (3-5) 7:00 pm EST

WASHINGTON (Ticker) -- LeBron James defeated the Washington Wizards in the playoffs last season. They have yet to recover.

The streaking Cavaliers travel to the nation's capital to take on the struggling Wizards on Saturday.

James hit two game-winning shots against Washington in a classic first-round playoff series last season. The superstar forward battled with Gilbert Arenas in a scoring duel that has fostered a rivalry between the two Eastern Conference foes.

On Friday, James was just as impressive. He scored 37 points and the reserves combined for 31 as Cleveland earned its fifth straight win with a 92-76 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

During the Cavaliers' five-game surge, the bench has averaged 40 points. James made 12-of-24 shots and collected nine rebounds and six assists while his teammates filled their roles.

Cleveland guard Larry Hughes missed the game due to a sprained right ankle suffered Wednesday. He is expected to be out at least one more contest.

The Wizards are headed in the opposite direction. Caron Butler scored 24 points and Arenas added 20 for the Wizards, who shot 44 percent (35-of-78) in dropping their third straight game Friday, a 100-91 decision to the Detroit Pistons.

The Pistons closed out the third quarter on an impressive 13-0 burst over the final 3 1/2 minutes to take a 74-61 advantage into the fourth. Detroit outscored Washington, 31-15, in the quarter.

Cleveland won the first meeting between the teams, 97-94, in the season opener for both on November 1. Antawn Jamison missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the waning seconds.