Wizards Fall Under James's Rule

CLEVELAND, April 22 -- Perhaps the Washington Wizards should not have been so eager to set up a first-round matchup with the Cleveland Cavaliers.

For starters, the Wizards appear to have no match for LeBron James, who tormented them from start to finish in his playoff debut while leading the Cavaliers to a 97-86 victory in front of 20,562 at Quicken Loans Arena on Saturday afternoon.

In a performance that conjured up memories of NBA greats like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, James joined Johnson and Johnny McCarthy as the only players in league history to post triple-doubles in their playoff debuts.

James, who shot 12 of 27, had 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists and was serenaded by chants of "MVP" throughout the game.

James, who is 21 years old, became the second-youngest player in NBA history to post a playoff triple-double. Magic Johnson was 20 when he pulled it off in a Los Angeles Lakers win over Phoenix in 1980.

If James has many more performances like Saturday's, the comparison to past greats will only increase and the Wizards will soon find themselves done for the season.

"That's what we didn't want," said Jared Jeffries, one of several Wizards who experienced little success defending James. "You didn't want him to come out and control the game the way he did. You can live with him getting 32 points because that's around his average for the season, but you can't have the 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Every bucket they got, every offensive rebound they got, it seemed like they were a result of him."

James, who said he was battling a cold, turned the game in Cleveland's favor late in the first quarter. He sparked a 12-0 run with a series of plays that included a three-pointer, a driving layup and a pass to Donyell Marshall that resulted in a three-pointer.

When the Wizards tried to double team James, cheat off of other players to help guard him or play zone, James patiently read their defense like an NFL quarterback before zipping an accurate pass to an open teammate.

Unfortunately for the Wizards, that teammate usually made the shot. Veteran guard Eric Snow was the main beneficiary, making all four of his first-half shots as the Cavaliers built a 50-36 lead.

"He's been here before," James said of Snow. "He knows what to expect. He knew we had to play well against Washington because they run a lot of junk defense against us, especially when I have the ball. They run [away from] Eric and don't pay much attention to him. He did a great job of hitting big shots to loosen them up a little bit and that gave me an opportunity to penetrate the seams."

While James was in a groove all afternoon, the Wizards never got rolling. Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler finished the regular season as the NBA's highest-scoring trio but combined to make 15 of 47 shots and score 48 points. Jeffries scored a career playoff high 15 points, and Antonio Daniels made all six of his shots to finish with 14.