James, Cavaliers sweep Wizards

Zydrunas Ilgauskas added 20 points and 19 rebounds, hitting a pair of key baskets down the stretch, for the Cavs, who swept a playoff series for the first time in franchise history.

Larry Hughes tallied 19 points and Drew Gooden had 14 points and eight boards for Cleveland, which will next face either New Jersey or Toronto in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

"These guys made us work for everything that we got — it wasn’t an easy series," said Ilgauskas. "Every game we had to work for it. It was a tough series, even though the results may not show it, but it was tough, trust me, and it will help us down the road."

Antawn Jamison had 31 points to lead the Wizards, who kept it close for most of the game until running out of firepower at the end. Darius Songaila added 16 points and Antonio Daniels recorded 13 points and 12 assists for Washington, which played the series without its injured All-Stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler.

"It was a good game," said Songaila. "We did everything we could. Guys came off the bench and did a great job. You always appreciate your fans and they appreciate you as long as you play hard, and I think we did that. We were there every game. Unfortunately we could not get it done."

After three free throws by Jamison gave the Wizards an 80-77 lead with 5:37 left, the Cavs scored the next six points to go ahead for good. Hughes’ consecutive jumpers gave Cleveland the lead and capped the run for an 83-80 lead with 4:03 left.

Later, ahead 89-88, Ilgauskas hit a pair of layups, his second coming with 33 seconds left for a 93-88 cushion and the Cavs cruised to the final buzzer.

Cleveland also beat the Wizards in the first round of the playoffs last season.

The first quarter was close throughout with Andray Blatche’s conventional three-point play with 40 seconds left giving Washington a 23-22 lead going into the second.

The Wizards proceeded to score the first seven points of the second quarter to go ahead by eight points, but Cleveland quickly responded and regained the lead at 34-32 following four straight free throws by James.

Washington later scored five straight points to take a 39-36 lead and the Wizards went into the break with the same three-point edge, 47-44.

A pair of three-pointers, one by Jamison and the other by Jarvis Hayes, to start the third quarter gave Washington a nine-point cushion.

Cleveland later cut the deficit to just one point, and a 7-2 burst gave the Cavs a short-lived 66-65 edge after James converted a layup with 23 seconds left in the stanza. Daniels’ layup in the final seconds, however, sent the Wizards into the fourth with a 67-66 lead.

Game Notes

Cleveland shot 28-of-31 from the free throw line, compared to 16-of-18 for Washington...The Cavs also outboarded the Wizards 46-35...This was the fifth straight elimination game that the Wizards have lost in the playoffs...New Jersey and Toronto play Game 5 of their series on Tuesday. The Nets lead the Raptors, 3-1.