LeBron leads Cavs to 30-point pasting of Wizards in Game 2

Cleveland, OH (My Sportsbook) - LeBron James had 30 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds, leading the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 116-86 victory and a commanding advantage after two games of their best-of-seven Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with the Washington Wizards.

James shot 9-of-19 from the floor and finished just one rebound shy of a triple-double, sitting the final six minutes of the fourth quarter when the outcome was no longer in doubt. Zydrunas Ilgauskas went for 16 points and nine rebounds, as Cleveland shot 51.9 percent from the floor while stifling the Wizards into a 37.5 percent effort.

"Tonight our guys did a nice job of trying to keep their composure," Cavs coach Mike Brown said. "It's going to be huge for us throughout the playoffs because we're going to face adversity at different times and we have to make sure that we stay level-headed and we stay composed no matter what we face out on that floor."

Caron Butler, DeShawn Stevenson and Darius Songaila had 12 points apiece for the Wizards, who, for the second straight game unsuccessfully attempted to take the Cavs out of their comfort zone with a physical brand of play. Monday the strategy resulted in the second-half ejection of starting center Brendan Haywood, and Washington's cause was certainly not aided by the limited availability of Gilbert Arenas, who scored just seven points in 24 minutes while nursing a sprained wrist suffered late in Game 1.

"LeBron controlled the game," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "He's head and shoulders above a lot of people and sometimes he looks like a man playing among boys. He controlled the game with his intensity, his leadership, his playmaking and just his presence. He took hold of it and ran with it."

The Wizards will host Game 3 on Thursday.

Cleveland led by 13 at the half, and Ilgauskas hit a fadeaway and Wally Szczerbiak canned a three to start the second half, giving the Cavs an 18- point lead -- their largest to that point.

Butler went baseline for a slam that brought Washington back within 15 at the 7:15 mark, but moments later some chippiness took away whatever momentum the Wizards may have been gaining. James sliced to the hoop off a back cut, and Haywood simply shoved him from behind as he elevated, causing James to land dangerously on his back. A flagrant two was called, resulting in the automatic ejection of Haywood, and Cleveland parlayed the mess into a 20-point lead with five straight points on free throws by James and a Delonte West three on the subsequent possession.

"It was scary, honestly," James said of Haywood's hard foul. "That's the only thing I could think of when I was in the air was hopefully I can get one foot under me so I can break my fall. I knew it was going to be a tough fall. I bounced up though. It was definitely not a basketball play in no shape, way or form."

The margin was as many as 25 late in the third, and James scored the final seven Cavs points in the stanza to stake his team to am 86-63 advantage going to the final period.

Daniel Gibson hit back-to-back jumpers around the nine-minute mark of the fourth, stretching the Cleveland lead to 96-69, and the Cavs cruised from that point on their way to a 2-0 series advantage.

Szczerbiak finished with 15 points and Gibson totaled 13 for Cleveland, which also got a combined 15-point, 15-rebound performance from the post duo of Ben Wallace and Anderson Varejao.

Antawn Jamison was held to nine points and nine boards for Washington.

Washington held a 15-9 lead through the opening six minutes, but the Cavs closed the first on a 12-3 spurt to take a 27-22 advantage to the second.

Roger Mason's jumper triggered an 8-0 Wizards run to begin the second, as Washington briefly reclaimed the lead, but Cleveland answered, with Gibson hitting a three inside the six-minute mark to put the Cavs up 41-36. Ilgauskas converted a rather awkward bucket off a pick-and-roll, making it 48-38 with less than two minutes to go, as part of a 17-4 Cleveland roll that sent them into the halftime break holding a 53-40 cushion.

Game Notes

Cleveland shot 52.6 percent (10-for-19) from three-point range, compared with a 3-for-16 (18.8 percent) effort by the Wizards...The Cavs outrebounded the Wizards, 49-34, and limited Washington to just one field goal over the final six minutes of the first half; overall, the Wizards shot just 36 percent in the opening 24 minutes...Mason totaled 10 points for Washington, while Joe Smith had nine off the Cleveland bench...The Cavs did shoot just 66.7 percent (22-of-33) from the foul line.

Continued at My Sportsbook...