Cavs try to earn first-ever playoff sweep in Washington

04.30.2007

(Basketball News) - The Cleveland Cavaliers try to sweep the Washington Wizards out of the playoffs, as the team meet tonight at the Verizon Center for Game 4 of their first-round matchup.

A victory would give Cleveland its first sweep in franchise history. If necessary, Game 5 of this best-of-seven series is scheduled for Wednesday at Quicken Loans Arena.

After winning Games 1 and 2 at home, the Cavaliers grabbed a commanding lead in the series on Saturday. Superstar LeBron James finished with 30 points and nine assists to lead the second-seeded Cavaliers to the brink of sweeping the seventh-seeded Wizards with a 98-92 win at the Verizon Center.

Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 24 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Cavaliers, while Sasha Pavlovic and Larry Hughes both netted 11 in the victory.Drew Gooden added 10 points and 12 boards for Cleveland.

Antawn Jamison finished with 38 points and 11 rebounds for the Wizards, who are on the verge of being eliminated in the postseason by the Cavaliers for a second straight year. Antonio Daniels contributed 20 points and 13 assists, while Jarvis Hayes added 15 points for the Wizards.

The last time the Wizards were swept in the playoffs was by the Miami Heat in the 2005 Eastern Conference semifinals. Washington has dropped four straight games when facing elimination from the postseason.

The Cavaliers have lost two straight contests when they have the chance to eliminate their opponent from the playoffs.

Cleveland has lost five of its last six Game 4s in the postseason, while Washington has won four of its last five Games 4s.

Washington does not have All-Stars Gilbert Arenas (knee) and Caron Butler (hand) for the entire playoffs after both were lost for the season due to injury. Arenas lead the Wizards in scoring (28.4 ppg) and assists (6.0 apg) during the regular season, while Butler averaged 19.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists.

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.

The Wizards are in the postseason for a third consecutive year and are meeting Cleveland in the playoffs for the fourth time. The only time Washington defeated the Cavaliers in the postseason was when it took two of three games in the first round of the 1977 NBA Playoffs.

The Cavs lead the all-time playoff series with Washington by a 12-7 count.

CLE WAS

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