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NBA Scores: LeBron James, Larry Hughes Lead Cavaliers Past Wizards in Game One
LeBron James scored 23 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and handed out 7 assists while Larry Hughes scored 27 points and pulled down 7 rebounds as the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the depleted Washington Wizards 97-82 in the first game of their Eastern Conference playoff series.
Antawn Jamison scored the opening bucket of the game for the Wizards and that was the only time Washington held a lead throughout the contest. James scored nine in the opening quarter to build a 27-20 advantage for the Cavaliers and Cleveland built on that lead in the second quarter.
Cleveland went up by ten after Larry Hughes completed a three-point play but Washington climbed back to within four when Jamison hit one of two from the foul-line with 33 second left in the half. The Cavaliers pushed their lead back to seven when Hughes hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to end the second to make the score 48-41.
Washington came out hot in the second half as Jarvis Hayes scored seven points in just over one minute to trim the Wizards deficit to two but Cleveland went on an 11-2 run to boost their lead to eleven and by the end of the third quarter Washington could only manage to get within seven, 74-67.
The Cavaliers put the game away in the fourth with a 13-6 spurt in the first five minutes of the period and Washington never challenged from that point forward.
Playing without injured stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler the Wizards were once again forced to rely on Jamison who scored 28 points and grabbed 14 rebounds but got little offensive support from the rest of the team.
The two teams will meet again on Wednesday in game two of their best of seven series.
