Cavs fend off Wizards to take 2-0 series lead

Drew Gooden posted a double-double with 24 points and 14 rebounds while Larry Hughes donated 19 points, eight boards and five assists for the Cavs, who downed the Wizards 97-82 in Game 1.

James was playing on a soar ankle that he tweaked in that contest, but was able to fight through it to help secure the win.

Game 3 of this best-of-seven, Eastern Conference quarterfinal set will be played in Washington on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. (et).

Antawn Jamison paced all scorers with 31 points and added 10 rebounds for Washington, which scored 39 points in the final quarter but was unable to complete the comeback. Antonio Daniels had 11 points and 11 assists in a losing effort, and Darius Songaila contributed 13 points and eight boards off the bench.

The Wizards are playing without stars Gilbert Arenas (knee) and Caron Butler (hand), both of whom endured injuries in the latter stages of the regular season.

Cleveland led by just three points at halftime, as James was limited to nine points on 3-of-8 shooting.

The home team turned it up in the third stanza, however, to build a cushion.

The Cavs set the tone immediately, scoring the first two buckets to hop in front 55-48. Moments later, Zydrunas Ilgauskas nailed back-to-back jumpers to extend the lead to double-digits.

Cleveland finished the third off strong as well, netting the final five points to take a 75-63 lead into the final 12 minutes.

The Wizards put together one final push in the hopes of salvaging a road win.

Six straight points by the Cavs in the early stages pushed the advantage to 15, but Washington clawed away from there to make it interesting down the stretch.

A key was a 7-0 burst starting with about seven minutes remaining that trimmed the deficit to seven. Jamison had five of those points, including a jumper with 6:16 left that made it 87-80.

Daniels cut the Cavs lead to seven again with 43 ticks on the clock with a pair of free throws before Jamison took advantage of an Eric Snow turnover with a three-pointer that made it 101-97.

The Wizards then cut it to three with under 30 seconds to play on a Jarvis Hayes triple. Hughes hit a pair from the stripe at the other end, however, and Cleveland fended off the Wizards from there.

Game Notes

The Cavaliers eliminated Washington in six games in the first round of last year’s conference playoffs. Cleveland was then ousted by Detroit in the next round...Cleveland had dropped three straight Game 2s in the postseason, while Washington has lost nine of its last 10 Games 2s...Ilgauskas totaled 16 points and nine boards.