LeBron, Cavs try to take control of first-round series at Washington

(Basketball News) - The Cleveland Cavaliers try to grab a 3-1 lead over the Washington Wizards in their first-round series tonight, as the teams meet in Game 4 of their best-of-seven set at the Verizon Center.

Game 5 is scheduled for Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena.

The fourth-seeded Cavaliers took a 2-1 lead in the series with a road victory on Friday. Superstar LeBron James scored 41 points and put in the winning layup with 5.7 seconds left, as the Cavaliers edged No. 5 Washington, 97-96, at the Verizon Center.

James set a record for most points by a player in his first road playoff contest. He shot 16-of-28 from the field in Game 3s win. Larry Hughes tallied 16 points and Zydrunas Ilgauskas netted 15 and grabbed eight rebounds before fouling out in the victory.

All-Star Gilbert Arenas finished with 34 points in the loss for the Wizards, but missed a potential winning three-pointer at the buzzer. Caron Butler had 20 points and 11 rebounds for Washington, while Antawn Jamison scored 14 and pulled down 10 boards.

The Cavaliers have dropped four straight Game 4s in the postseason, while Washington has won three of their last four Game 4s.

Washington and Cleveland have met in the postseason before with the Bullets eliminating the Cavaliers, 2-1, in the first round of the 1976-77 playoffs.

Cleveland has returned to the playoffs for the first time since 1998, when the Cavaliers were ousted in the opening round by the Indiana Pacers, 3-1.

The Wizards, who have dropped three straight home contests in the postseason, are appearing in the playoffs for the second straight season. Washington reached the conference semifinals last season, but was swept by the Miami Heat.

Before last season, the Wizards hadn’t reached the playoffs since losing to Chicago in the first round of the 1996-97 playoffs.

During the regular season, the Wizards won three of the four contests between the clubs.

The Cavaliers were 19-22 as the visitor during the regular season, while the Wizards were a solid 27-14 at home.