<div align="center"> vs. <font color="blue">Washington Wizards (41-41)</font> vs. <font color="red">Cleveland Cavaliers (52-30)</font> Date: April 22nd, 2007 Time: 8:00 P.M. Eastern TV: ABC, CSN, FSOhio Place: Quicken Loans Arena</div> <font size="3">Season Series</font><ul>[*]November 1: Cavaliers over Wizards, 97-94 [*]November 18th: Wizards over Cavaliers, 111-99 [*]April 6th: Cavaliers over Wizards, 99-94[/list] [div=50%]<font color="blue"><font size="3">Wizards Starting Lineup</font></font> <div align="center"> <font size="1">(A. Daniels, D. Stevenson, J. Hayes, A. Jamison, E. Thomas)</font></div> <font color="blue">2006-07 Wizards Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Antawn Jamison - 19.8 PPG Leading Rebounder: Antawn Jamison - 8.0 RPG Leading Assist Man: Antonio Daniels - 3.6 APG Points Per Game: 104.3 Field Goal Percentage: 45.0% 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 34.8% Rebounds Per Game: 41.2 Assists Per Game: 20.2 <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/antonio_daniels.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Antonio Daniels</font> PPG: 7.1, RPG: 1.9, APG: 3.6 The Wizards' playmaker AD took lead in place of Gilbert after his devasting injury and since then, he's been starting playing 40+ minutes in 5 of 8 games, and Eddie Jordan has relied on him to make the right passes, and score when relied upon. Antonio Daniels knows going into the playoffs, that he can't afford to mess-up, espically shooting free-throws in the last minute when they count the most, he has carried the team along with Jamison to get where they are right now. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/deshawn_stevenson.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Deshawn Stevenson </font> PPG: 11.2, RPG: 2.6 APG: 2.7 Deshawn Stevenson came into the season on a low salary, basically looking to raise his stock entering into the off-season and since the injuries to Arenas and Butler, it's Deshawn's perfect opportunity do so in this playoff series against the Cavaliers. He needs to be the guy to make the shots for the Wizards and replace the 47 points that the Wizards are missing from the injuries to Butler and Arenas. <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/jarvis_hayes.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Jarvis Hayes</font> PPG: 7.2, RPG: 2.6, APG: 2.7 Often dubbed "Arvis" by Wizards fans for his inconsistency to hit the jumper after numerous of opportunities every game. Hayes has proven that he could hit a few 3's after the injuries to Arenas and Butler, and to prove that he belongs on the team next year, he cannot afford to shoot at a low percentage and he's going to have to make some stops at LeBron James in crunch time, to give the Wizards a win. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/antawn_jamison.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Antawn Jamison</font> PPG: 19.8, RPG: 8.0, APG: 1.9 The Wizards' current ace hasn't shown any signs that the Wizards can perhaps advance on to the second round, as long as Antawn Jamison doesn't show the heart and effort out there to do so. He has scored a season high 48 points in the home finale against Orlando, but even so the Wizards couldn't come out with a win. Antawn's leadership in the playoffs will be important for the Wizards, and he'll need to be relied on for making the shots to get this team started. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/etan_thomas.jpg[/imgl]<font color="blue">Etan Thomas</font> PPG: 6.1, RPG: 5.8, APG: 0.4 Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood have been seesawing all season long in starting. Etan started out the season nicely, until his injury in December, which Haywood replaced Etan and the team went 9-1 with Haywood starting. Brendan's slump in late March though cost him the starting lineup, and which Etan took back and since then, Etan has shown why he should be the starter. He's made great plays in the paint on offense, he's been blocking a lot of shots down-low, and making defensive stops. He'll have a major road-block against Zydrunas Ilgauskas, but Etan can prove to the world why the Wizards can make it on to the second round.[/div] <font size="3"><div align="center"><font color="red">Cavaliers Starting Lineups:</font></div></font> <div align="center"> <font size="1">(L. Hughes, A. Pavlovic L. James, D. Gooden, Z. Ilgauskas)</font></div> <font color="red">2006-07 Cavaliers Stats</font> Leading Scorer: Lebron James - 27.3 PPG Leading Rebounder: Drew Gooden - 8.5 RPG Leading Assist Man: LeBron James - 6.0 APG Points Per Game: 96.8 Field Goal Percentage: 44.7% 3-Point Field Goal Percentage: 35.2% Rebounds Per Game: 43.5 Assists Per Game: 20/8 <font size="3">Backcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/larry_hughes.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Larry Hughes</font> PPG: 14.9, RPG: 3.8, APG: 3.7 The stats have dropped for Larry Hughes, but the most important thing is that he was able to play 70 games, nearly twice as many as he played last year and made a better effort to make plays for his teammates, than himself. Larry Hughes has averaged 21 points in the 2 games against the Wizards this season, and he looks to set the tone for the Cavaliers in the playoffs. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/aleksandar_pavlovic.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Aleksandar Pavlovic </font> PPG: 9.0, RPG: 2.4, APG: 1.6 It's been a big improvement for Sasha Pavlovic taking a step up and and playing a bigger role for the Cavs than he did last year. His minutes have gone up 8 minutes a game, 4.5 points to 9.0 points this season and his shooting averages significantly up from 41% to 45% field goal percentage, 36% to 40% 3 point percentage, and 65% to 78% free-throw shooting. He may be the one to look out for in this playoff series. <font size="3">Frontcourt</font> [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/lebron_james.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">LeBron James</font> PPG: 27.3, RPG: 6.7, APG: 6.0 LeBron James leads the Cavaliers to another 50 win season as he is currently eyeing for an NBA championship at 21 years of age. "We definitely proved that we are one of the better teams in the NBA by basically coming out and destroying teams" LeBron said. The Wizards should be no stranger to LeBron as he enters Sunday's game 1 matchup certainly with no jitters after banking a triple double in his first playoff triple double last year. LeBron will be the go-to man in last minute and he looks to make the plays againt that sent Washington home last year. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/drew_gooden.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Drew Gooden</font> PPG: 11.1, RPG: 8.5, APG: 1.1 It's going to be sooner or later that Drew Gooden will explode for a 20 and 10 game like he did last year's game 2 in the series against the Wizards with 24 points and 16 boards on 11-12 shooting. Drew's matchup with the Wizards current ace, Antawn Jamison should be a fun one to match with both players having the ability to finish in the paint. [imgl]http://www.nba.com/media/playerfile/zydrunas_ilgauskas.jpg[/imgl]<font color="red">Zydrunas Ilgauskas</font> PPG: 11.9, RPG: 7.7, APG: 1.6 The 11 year veteran out of Lithuania looks to finally take that new step for the Cavs and help this team into the finals. Zydrunas has suffered a drop in points this season, but he knows that he'll need to step up into the paint to go against a determined Wizards team. <div align="center"><font size="3">Keys to the Game</font></div><ul>[*]<font color="blue">Mr. Dagger At The Buzzer</font> ? Ever since Gilbert Arenas has gone down, the Wizards haven't shown that they could finish out in the last two minutes of games and it has hurt their positioning in the playoffs. All of the Wizards' loss in April without Gilbert Arenas have been within 8, excluding the blowout to the Bulls, and it's important for the Wizards to have a guy they can count on to hit their free-throws and make the shots to keep them in the game.[*]<font color="blue">Want to replace the 47 points? Do so by playing D</font> ? The Wizards are missing a big chunk of their scoring (42% of their offense), with Arenas and Butler out with injuries. Obviously the Wizards can't replace that with the lineup they have right now, but they can try going a different way with this team. The Wizards have had a tough time playing defense the entire season, and it has hurt them when they needed a stop. If guys like Hayes and Stevenson can make force the missed shot or turnover that can set the Wizards up with a win, that can replace a lot of the offense missing.[*]<font color="blue">Push The Tempo</font> ? The Wizards are going to be fired up because of the loss to Arenas and Butler and they hope that the injuries to them will fuel up this depleted squad into playing the best of their season. The Wizards are one of the best when needing a steal , and getting easy points off turnovers. Etan's presence in the paint will block some shots for us and those 2 things alone can fire the Wizards up and hope for a win in game 1.[*]<font color="red">Target and Take Away Shooters</font> ? The Wizards aren't going to get a lot of scoring production if their shooting is off and the Cavaliers need to make note of this and get shooters like Stevenson, Jamison and Hayes off their game in the first quarter. Keeping their shooting percentage and confidence low will make the Cavalier's route to victory a lot easier.[*]<font color="red">Attack the Paint</font> ? The Cavaliers overmatch the Wizards with size and strength in the paint and that can become a big factor in this series, if Ilgauskas, Gooden and Varejao play their best. The Wizards will have a tough time trying to keep their bigs away from foul trouble, while trying to contain LeBron James, and if the Cavaliers exploit the matchups in the paint, the Cavaliers will route to a win.[*]<font color="red">Take Your Throne, King James</font> ? LeBron James will definitely be fired up to take the inspired Cavaliers to the finals this year and with his performance last year against the non-depleted Wizards roster, imagine what he can do to the Wizards without Arenas and Butler. Basically, LeBron James will have an series and there won't be a player on the Wizards that can stop him from making the key plays at the end.[/list]
Wizards will put together a very gritty playoff series to continue to stay in the games, but they just don't have the firepower to hang with the Cavs through an entire 7 game series. I'm going to stick with a Cavs sweep, but all the games will be within 5-10 points MAX, IMO.
Oh man, I thought LeBron would've been out for the rest of the series. Let's go Wiz, let's win game 1!
The Wizards are doing very well, hey, I'll be happy to just win one game in this, but good job so far on the road.
The final score got bloated in the last few minutes. The game was much closer than that. The Wizards put up a good fight, but they were simply outmatched by Cleveland and that vociferous Game 1 crowd. I think they can win in Washington. Maybe even two, but they are ultimately shorthanded in a 7-game series against the 2nd best team in the East.
It's a crime that Arenas and Butler are out This was the Wizard's year to get to the second round in the East at the least and I would have given them a 50/50 chance to reach the East final if it were not for the crushing injuries. The way things are, this series is unfair.
<div class="quote_poster">tremaine Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">It's a crime that Arenas and Butler are out This was the Wizard's year to get to the second round in the East at the least and I would have given them a 50/50 chance to reach the East final if it were not for the crushing injuries. The way things are, this series is unfair.</div> I agree. I can't wait until next year for the Wizards because you know Arenas will want to make up for this season and he plays great when people doubt him. I really want the Wizards to do good next season because there are few players in the league that are more exciting to watch than Gilbert Arenas.
