Poised Performance In His Recurring Role

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Rivalry Renewed

Pitted against one another in the playoffs for a third consecutive season, the Wizards look to knock off their burgeoning Eastern Conference rivals in the opening round of the NBA postseason.

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Deja lose.

"It means a lot more for Delonte, him being our starting point guard to make that shot," LeBron said. "Because at times, he's been tentative, trying to fit in."

Between dueling guards, rappers and teams, this first-round series probably should have been held under a tent, next to a sign that read, "Come See the Bearded Lady."

Through it all, LeBron was the one serene soul amid the carnival and chaos, the one player grounded and centered enough to realize he couldn't get into a scrap and lose his head because, well, there goes the series.

"Me being the leader of this team, I can't allow myself to get unfocused or our whole team will unravel. It's been some extracurricular activities . . . going on outside and inside this series, but I've been able to stay focused on what's at task and trying to win ballgames."

Yes, LeBron still gets frequent-flyer miles on his forays to the rim. He often takes more steps than the stairwell in Georgetown used in "The Exorcist." And like any physical, star player in the league -- from Shaquille O'Neal on down -- he gets the benefit of the doubt from officials at the end of taut games. It's not surprising that he gets those calls; it's amazing that at just 23 he has earned that respect.

He seized the most important game of the season again from Arenas, Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison -- three all-stars who, irrespective of their health and hubris, cannot seem to scale Mount LeBron.

After all the mean-mugging, Stevenson's hard foul, the physical and mental intimidation, the guy who did his job better than anyone, who used the game of basketball to settle any beefs, was James, who played the testosterone game afterward.

"If we was on the park, something definitely would've escalated," he said of Stevenson's foul. "If we was on the park, where I grew up playing a lot basketball outside, something definitely would've happened."

"I guess that's what they want to do," he said. "They want to hurt LeBron James this series. It ain't working."

His act has a few flaws, especially when LeBron James refers to LeBron James in the third person. But all the kids do that. Bottom line is, he did it again, leaving all those hoopheads in the District crestfallen about their team.

"I think Washington definitely probably had a flashback," James said. "We've hit some big shots in this building. Damon hitting a bit shot to close out the series. Then you've got Delonte who knocks down a big shot today in front of his home town. Guys around me know they are always going to get shots. We just have to step up and knock them down."

He was asked if he thought the Wizards had any shot of becoming the ninth team in NBA history -- out of 174 others teams -- to rebound from a 3-1 deficit, a 4.5 percent chance statistically.

"Do I think they can do it?" LeBron said, staring coldly at the questioner. "No."

From Arenas's impending free agency to Eddie Jordan's job security, Ernie Grunfeld, the Wizards' team president, will soon have to make hard decisions about this team. Chief among them: Grunfeld has got to wonder if the roster he composed to be among the East's elite is genuinely capable of ever making a run toward the NBA Finals.

After his virtuoso performance in Game 4, LeBron has all the answers. If he closes out Washington in Game 5 at home, he will be more responsible for a makeover of the Wizards than any executive or player unable to crawl beneath his thick skin and inside his focused, rattle-proof mind.