It was a tale of two stories. In the first half, James set franchise playoff records for points in a quarter (18) and half (25), while Arenas was struggling, and Cleveland was up 57-46. Then, LeBron James suddenly, stunningly, became quiet. Gilbert Arenas recovered from an awful start to lead Washington’s comeback for a 106-96 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, tying the first-round series at 2-2.

Lebron was called for 4 offensive fouls! After one in the fourth quarter, he put his palms up and mouthed, “What did I do?” His coach, Mike Brown, crumpled a paper cup and threw it to the ground.

“I’ve been called for more offensive fouls in this series than all 82 games combined, probably,” James said. “I don’t know if they’re trying to take my aggressiveness away, make me play outside.”

It’s total B.S., the refs caved in to pressure from Wizards’ lobbying after Game 3. They took away his inside game because he was constantly called for offensive foul on every flop. Game 5 is Wednesday.

Lebron’s Line: 38 Pts (13-23), 6 Rebs, 5 Assists

Washington 106, Cleveland 96

WASHINGTON (AP) — Hold on, LeBron. Gilbert Arenas and the Washington Wizards aren’t quite ready to pack it in.

With LeBron James suddenly, stunningly, quiet after a tremendous first half Sunday night, Arenas recovered from an awful start to lead Washington’s comeback for a 106-96 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, tying the first-round series at 2-2.

“Oh, man, that was night and day, wasn’t it?” Arenas said after putting behind a six-point, 1-for-9 first half to finish with 34 points — 20 in the fourth quarter.

So much attention during this series has been focused on James’ NBA postseason debut, leaving Arenas feeling a tad overshadowed. He is, after all, a two-time All-Star who finished fourth in the league in scoring this season.

“This is LeBron’s show, you know. We’re just all witnesses,” Arenas said with a broad smile, mimicking a catch phrase used in James’ shoe ads.

At halftime, everything looked quite good for James and Co. and rather bleak for the Wizards. James set franchise playoff records for points in a quarter (18) and half (25), Arenas was struggling, and Cleveland was up 57-46. Another half anything close to that, and Cleveland would head home for Wednesday’s Game 5 with a 3-1 edge.

But two key things happened in Washington’s locker room.

First, the always-quirky Arenas changed his jersey, shorts, shoes and tights, saying what he was wearing had brought bad luck. Then — and, quite likely, more importantly — Wizards coach Eddie Jordan told his players he’d deviate from his highly regimented Princeton offense and wouldn’t dictate plays.

“That’s all we said: Just loosen up, got out and have some fun, I’m not going to call plays,” Jordan said.

It worked, of course, but there was much more to it than that, as Washington outscored Cleveland 60-39 after the break. For one thing, James was nowhere to be found at times in the second half. He took only three shots in the third quarter, missed all, and wound up with 38 points.

James finished with six rebounds and five assists, but he also had seven turnovers, including four offensive fouls. After one in the fourth quarter, he put his palms up and mouthed, “What did I do?” His coach, Mike Brown, crumpled a paper cup and threw it to the ground.

“I’ve been called for more offensive fouls in this series than all 82 games combined, probably,” James said. “I don’t know if they’re trying to take my aggressiveness away, make me play outside.”

During Saturday’s off-day, it was Jordan who spoke about the referees, saying he thought James was getting preferential treatment.

“Whatever they said, it obviously worked,” Brown said, noting that Arenas took 17 free throws, James seven.

Still, in crunch time, as Washington was padding its lead and using smaller, quicker players to guard James, the 21-year-old star wasn’t taking Cleveland’s shots. Nope, it was the likes of Donyell Marshall, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Damon Jones who were getting touches. Flip Murray wound up scoring 19, and the only other Cavaliers player in double figures was Ilgauskas with 13.

“If I’m double-teamed, I’m going to give the ball up,” James said.

Arenas got going a bit with eight points in the third quarter, as Washington whittled a 13-point deficit. He was fouled on a drive to the basket with 0.4 seconds left in that period, and with chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” ringing off the rafters, he made both free throws to tie the game at 72.

That figured to set up Bron-Bron vs. Gil, Part II, after their down-the-stretch duel in Game 3. In that one Friday, James hit the go-ahead shot with 5.7 seconds left in the game to finish off his 41-point performance, before Arenas — who scored half of his 34 in the fourth quarter — missed an open 3-pointer that would have won it.

On Sunday, James opened Sunday’s fourth quarter with a 3-pointer, his sixth of the game, but Arenas answered from beyond the arc. Antawn Jamison tacked on another 3 for Washington, giving the hosts their first lead since early in the second quarter, and Arenas added a long jumper to make it 80-76.

Just as in Washington’s Game 2 victory, Arenas got plenty of help from his top sidekicks, Jamison and Caron Butler. Jamison had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Butler added 21 points — 14 in the second half — and some tough defense on James.

James began 6-for-7 from the field — 4-for-4 on 3s — and scored 15 of the Cavaliers’ 16 points in one first-half stretch.

That’s when Jordan ripped up his script, in part because former Wizards guard Larry Hughes was telling his Cleveland teammates what plays were on the way.

“Coach said, ‘Throw away the plays,”‘ Arenas said. “‘Throw away the plays?’ All right. That’s like playing outside.”

Notes

The Cavaliers watched the end of the Suns-Lakers overtime game on a big-screen TV in the visiting locker room. When Kobe Bryant hit the winning shot, there were shouts of “Show-Be!” and “Kobe Jordan!”. … Jordan hasn’t heard from the NBA about his comments Saturday that James should have been called for traveling on his winning shot in Game 3, and that James is getting calls Arenas isn’t.

WASHINGTON (AP) — LeBron James drove around Antonio Daniels, collided with Michael Ruffin and banked in a 4-footer on the way down with 5.7 seconds left.

Chalk up another milestone for the emerging legend: He made his first game-winning shot in the playoffs.

James scored a franchise playoff-record 41 points Friday night, including two tough shots in the paint in the final minute. In a thrilling one-on-one fourth-quarter duel between two young stars, James had the final say over Gilbert Arenas in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ 97-96 victory over the Washington Wizards.

“We are two All-Stars,” James said. “We don’t want our teams to lose the game. It was unfortunate that one team had to lose, but I am happy I was on the winning side. It was a great performance by myself and Gilbert.”

James made 16 of 28 shots and had five rebounds and three assists. Arenas scored 17 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter — making all but one of the Wizards’ field goals in the period — but he missed an open 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have won the game.

“It went in and came out. You’re going to miss more than you make in your career,” Arenas said. “I missed that one, but I’m going to have more opportunities to make them. … I thought it was going in. It was there, just a little off. It just wasn’t our day. We fought all 48 minutes of this basketball game and we deserved this win.”

The Cavaliers lead the series 2-1. Game 4 is Sunday in Washington.

Larry Hughes, who had been struggling all series, scored eight of his 16 points in the fourth quarter for the Cavaliers. Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 15 points and eight rebounds before fouling out with 4:57 to play.

But the Cavaliers were all about James, who played all but 23 seconds. His teammates were a combined 19-for-57 from the field. The Wizards mixed up their defenses, sometimes showing double-teams and threats of double-teams, especially in the second half, but James couldn’t be stopped at the end when everyone in the building knew he would take the shots.

He gave the Cavaliers the lead with 31 seconds remaining by driving to the paint against Jared Jeffries. Jeffries appeared to tie James up, but James recovered and put in the layup.

Arenas, serenaded by chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” in the fourth quarter, responded by driving the paint to draw a blocking foul on James while making the layup. Arenas hit the free throw for a three-point play, giving the Wizards a 96-95 lead with 23 seconds to go — but giving James time to win it.

“I said I wouldn’t have two bad games in a row,” said James, who had 10 turnovers and shot 7-for-25 in the Game 2 loss. “I watched Game 2 over and over, and I saw the adjustment they made on me from Game 1 to Game 2. Me being the player I am, I had to counterattack, and I was able to do that.”

James wouldn’t have been in position to win the game were it not for two key defensive plays. Donyell Marshall blocked Ruffin’s layup, then was fouled at the other end and made both free throws to tie it at 93 with 51 seconds remaining. On the Wizards’ next possession, Flip Murray jumped to intercept Daniels’ pass for a steal.

Caron Butler had 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Antawn Jamison scored 14 points — but only two in the second half — for the Wizards, who shot 39 percent in the second half after making 55 percent in the first.

“It hurts,” Washington coach Eddie Jordan said. “You have to let it seep out of you as the night goes along, and tomorrow morning you go back to work for the game on Sunday.”

The game began with a blood-pumping, up-and-down pace missing from the first two games, although James was curiously a non-factor for much of the first quarter. The Cavaliers instead tried to feed the ball inside to Ilgauskas, who made a long hook for the game’s first basket and didn’t have another field goal until the second quarter.

A 15-4 run gave the Wizards a 26-15 lead, and coach Mike Brown decided he’d seen enough. He called timeout, and the message was clear: James needed the ball. He was the focus of the next three possessions, but only one was successful. He drove by Butler for a dunk, was called for an illegal dribble and missed a jump shot.

James, who had a triple-double in Game 1, didn’t get his first assist until 2:21 to go in the half, and the Wizards led by 14 before James led a late rally before the break. An 8-2 run cut Washington’s lead to 58-50 at the half.

The Wizards went cold in the third quarter, making six of 18 shots. James made two baskets and assisted on the other in a 6-0 run that tied the score at 67, and the teams went to the fourth tied at 71.

The rest of the game, it was Arenas vs. James. The Wizards made James work hard for his game-winner, but not hard enough.

“Jared was there. Mike Ruffin was there. And he made a tough shot,” Butler said. “That’s the type of shot you want him to take. Tonight he was converting a lot of those.”

Game notes

How big is the hype surrounding James? The Wizards issued a credential to a reporter from lebronjames.com, giving him a seat between The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer and USA Today. … Pregame mystery in the Wizards locker room: Someone wrote “The Hater” in block letters on the nameplate above rookie Andray Blatche’s locker. “I don’t know who did it — probably Gil,” Blatche said. But Arenas said there was no way he could be the culprit. “I have bad penmanship,” he said.

The Washington Wizards threw Lebron off his game, and evened up the series Angry at allowing LeBron James to dominate them with a triple-double in Game 1, the Wizards roughed up Cleveland’s superstar and downed the Cavaliers 89-84 Tuesday night to tie their Eastern Conference series at a game apiece. Gilbert Arenas scored 30 points, Antawn Jamison added 21 and Caron Butler was the primary defender on James, who wasn’t the same after he got fouled hard by center Brendan Haywood in the first quarter.

CLEVELAND (AP) — The Washington Wizards got mad, then got even.

Angry at allowing LeBron James to dominate them with a triple-double in Game 1, the Wizards roughed up Cleveland’s superstar and downed the Cavaliers 89-84 Tuesday night to tie their Eastern Conference series at a game apiece.

Gilbert Arenas scored 30 points, Antawn Jamison added 21 and Caron Butler was the primary defender on James, who wasn’t the same after he got wrapped up by massive Wizards center Brendan Haywood in the first quarter.

“Actually, that wasn’t the plan going in,” Arenas said of Haywood’s hack. “Brendan just decided he was going to give a hard foul to let him know he was there. For some reason, that just threw him off a little bit.”

James got 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in his playoff debut, but he played like a mere mortal in his second postseason game as a pro.

He finished with 26 points on 7-of-25 shooting, and matched his career high with 10 turnovers. James also made some mental errors, including a costly one late when he made an out-of-bounds save under his own basket that was picked off by Arenas for an easy layup.

The Wizards, who returned to Washington after Game 1 to regroup, came up with all the right adjustments and snatched away Cleveland’s home-court advantage.

“We destroyed ourselves in Game 1,” Arenas said. “So we decided to come out and play better basketball.”

The Wizards stopped James and also snapped Cleveland’s 12-game winning streak at home. Instead of double-teaming the 6-foot-8 James, who dissected them with passes to open teammates in Game 1, Washington coach Eddie Jordan let Butler and Jared Jeffries guard him with no assistance.

“They had a great scheme by playing me 1-on-1,” said James, whose 10 turnovers were a team playoff record. “I missed a lot of shots, layups that I usually make. They did a great job. I didn’t come to play.”

The series shifts to the Verizon Center for Game 3 in the best-of-seven series on Friday night.

Drew Gooden scored 24 points on 11-of-12 shooting and added 16 rebounds, and Larry Hughes had 16 points for the Cavaliers, who trailed 85-77 with 1:34 left following Arenas’ gift layup and free throw.

A free throw by James and two by Gooden got the Cavs within 85-80, and Cleveland was still alive when Arenas missed an ill-advised 3-pointer.

Hughes’ jumper made it 87-82, and James made two more free throws with 20 seconds left to pull Cleveland within three. Billy Thomas then missed a pair of free throws for Washington, and the Cavs looked as if they would get closer.

James rushed the ball up the floor, but instead of calling a timeout or trying a game-tying 3-pointer, he passed inside to a wide-open Anderson Varejao.

But as Cleveland’s backup center was gathering himself for a shot, Arenas slapped the ball away. Varejao fouled Jamison, who made two free throws to ice it as the Wizards bounced back to knot what is expected to be a long series.

Arenas wasn’t surprised James would pass up the shot.

“That’s what he does,” Arenas said. “He’s a playmaker. He makes great decisions out there.”

Getting nasty with James wasn’t on the Wizards’ drawing board, but it worked and they might as well stick with it.

“As long as it’s not flagrant,” Jordan said. “We’re not the toughest team in the NBA, but tonight we brought it out.”

Unable to slow James much in the opener, Washington decided to bang him around in the first half. The Wizards held him to just two points in the second quarter and Cleveland’s star went 17:40 between field goals.

At one point, Cavs coach Mike Brown sat his superstar for 2:15 of the second quarter. During a timeout, Zydrunas Ilgauskas offered some advice to James, who was just 2-for-9 with zero assists and four turnovers.

“I thought he still played great — 26 (points) and nine (rebounds). That’s a bad night for him?” Butler said. “That’s unbelievable.”

Down by 11 points early, the Wizards started to play rough with James. First, Jeffries wrapped him up on a drive and then Haywood committed a hard foul to stop another attack by James, who initially took exception to the second horse collar.

“Hard fouls are going to happen,” James said. “But that’s just playoff basketball.”

Notes

Jordan downplayed an encounter with a profane fan, who yelled at Washington’s coach as he left the floor at halftime. The Cavaliers released a statement saying they couldn’t establish what happened and pledged their support of Jordan. … James also had 10 turnovers on March 28, 2005, against New Orleans. … Mark Price had nine turnovers on April 29, 1995, in a playoff game against New York. … Brown, who led the club to 50 wins in his first year, received one first-place vote and finished eighth in coach of the year balloting won by Dallas’ Avery Johnson. “He deserves it,” Brown said. “A big-time coach, great team, terrific season. He’s one of the guys I would have voted for.” … Jordan is impressed by the giant Nike banner of James that hangs across from the arena. “It’s pretty intimidating, frankly, for a 51-year-old man like me,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s intimidating to Antawn or Gil or Jared, but it’s pretty intimidating to me. It happens to be right by the hotel where everybody stays.”

CLEVELAND (AP) — Hollywood arrived a few days ago as a film crew began shooting scenes for the next “Spiderman” sequel. On Saturday, East 9th Street was closed to accommodate the production.

One block away, nothing could stop the city’s resident superhero.

LeBron James soared.

Cleveland’s young star had a dazzling NBA playoff debut, making history with a triple-double in a 97-86 series opening win over the Washington Wizards, the Cavaliers’ first postseason victory since 1998.

In the biggest game of his budding career, James dominated, delivering an MVP-worthy performance before a towel-waving, title-famished Cleveland crowd of 20,562 that threatened to blow the roof off Quicken Loans Arena.

With 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, James became just the third player to get a triple-double in his first playoff game. Johnny McCarthy did it for the St. Louis Hawks in 1960. Magic Johnson did it for the Los Angeles Lakers in 1980.

Twenty-six years later, the 21-year-old James got his.

“The only thing that surprised me, was that it took LeBron 48 minutes to do it,” Cavs guard Larry Hughes said Sunday. “He’s a special guy.”

To put it in context, Michael Jordan, the No. 23 to whom Cleveland’s No. 23 is often compared, had 23 points, four rebounds and 10 assists but lost his first playoff game for the Chicago Bulls.

Kobe Bryant’s debut? Two points.

Cleveland’s playoff opener was also the first on the opening weekend of the NBA’s second season. Cavs forward Donyell Marshall didn’t think that was a coincidence.

“A triple-double? That’s nothing new for him, and that’s no surprise to me,” he said. “My philosophy is that’s why the NBA put us on first, to see what LeBron would do.”

During a timeout after James outscored the Wizards 9-0 in the first quarter, members of the Cavs’ “Scream Team” ran onto the floor and began throwing black T-shirts with the word “Witness” printed on the front into the crowd.

Maybe they should have handed them out on the Washington bench, too.

The Wizards got to see James from all angles.

“Every bucket they got, every offensive rebound they got, it seemed like they were a result of him,” Washington’s Jared Jeffries said. “He controlled the whole game.”

Other than firing up an airball on his first shot, James had little trouble with the Wizards, whose primary game plan was to force the 6-foot-8 forward to dribble to his left — his weaker hand — and not let him get to the basket.

Oops. James had several layups, including one driving to his right with 4:44 that basically put the game out of reach.

Washington also attempted to double-team James, rushing a second defender at him when he crossed mid-court.

Double oops. James simply waited for the pressure and then calmly passed around or over the Wizards, usually finding Marshall (19 points, three 3-pointers) or Eric Snow (14 points) for wide-open jumpers.

At practice on Sunday, the Wizards, who returned to Washington following the game, began working on new schemes to try and slow James in Game 2 on Tuesday night.

“We’ll make some adjustments, but we have to do things better,” Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. “He’s a terrific player and the more you play against him the more you understand how good he is.

“For the most part we have to force him to take more outside shots instead of driving to the basket. If we are going to double-team him, which there are times you have to, then we have to get out of the double team and rotate better to get to shooters.”

James isn’t too worried about what the Wizards might have in store.

“I’ve seen every defense possible,” he said. “Double-teams, triple-teams, box-and-one. There’s nothing I don’t know how to get around. I’m sure they’re going to try to do something, though.”

James would have had several more assists, but both Marshall and Zydrunas Ilgauskas missed easy layups. After one misfire underneath, James leveled a not-so-understanding glare at Marshall as they headed to the bench.

“It’s up to me to read the defense and try to make all my teammates do well,” James said. “I always like to pass. For one, you get two ‘oohs’ on the play — one on the pass and one on the bucket.”

Perhaps more impressive than any of his stats was that James came through with a heavy heart. On Friday, he attended the wake of Brenda Lewis Weems, his godmother, who died of cancer on April 15. She was just 45.

Weems’ son, Brandon, was a high school teammate of James at Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary High School. James calls Brandon his “little brother.”

On a new pair of white-and-gold trimmed Nikes he broke out for the playoffs, James scrawled “Brenda RIP” on the tongues of his sneakers, a tribute to a woman he considered to be a second mother.

After the game, James quietly dressed with the inscribed shoes a few feet away.

“Say a prayer for her,” he said.

CLEVELAND (AP) — LeBron James had an NBA playoff debut that was simply Magical.

Showcasing his spectacular skills as a pro in the postseason for the first time, James recorded a triple-double and brought the Cleveland Cavaliers back to the playoffs in style with a 97-86 win over the Washington Wizards on Saturday.

James finished with 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists, becoming the first player since Magic Johnson to post a triple-double in his first playoff game.

“It’s a great class to be in,” James said.

If Game 1 of his playoff resume was any indication, James may one day be in a class by himself.

Over 48 minutes, the 21-year-old, who is battling a cold, did a little of everything to help the Cavaliers land the first blow in what could be a lengthy series between the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds in the Eastern Conference.

As always, the pregame hype centered around James, who barely missed the playoffs in his first two seasons. He hadn’t been in such a pressure-packed game since he was a high school senior, and many wondered if he could handle the pressure.

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“He’s played on big stages his whole life,” Cavs forward Drew Gooden said. “It’s expected of him.”

James is just the third player in history to get a triple-double in his playoff debut. Johnson (13 points, 12 rebounds and 16 assists) did it for the Los Angeles Lakers on April 8, 1980, and Johnny McCarthy (13 points, 11 rebounds, 11 assists) had one for St. Louis on March 16, 1960.

“Nothing he does surprises me anymore,” Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said. “He’s just a terrific player. He’s a tremendous luxury to have, knowing he can go out there any time and put up numbers like that.”

Cleveland’s first game back in the playoffs since 1998 — when James was a seventh grader — couldn’t have gone much better.

James got plenty of help from his supporting cast as Donyell Marshall added 19 points, Eric Snow 14 and Ilgauskas and Flip Murray 10 apiece for the Cavs. Game 2 is scheduled for Tuesday night at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Wizards have some work to do before then. Not only do they have to rethink their defensive strategy on James, who threw over or drove around double teams, but Washington needs to work on its free-throw and 3-point shooting.

The Wizards were only 25-of-36 from the 15-foot line and just 3-of-22 from long range.

Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler, Washington’s usually reliable offensive trio that came in averaging 67.4 points combined, scored 48 as Cleveland’s defense made it tough for any of them to get a good look at the basket.

“What hurt me most was my team not playing the way we are supposed to play,” Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. “They did. We didn’t.”

Arenas led Washington with 26 points, but he got 17 of them in the fourth quarter when the Cavs were already up by double digits. Arenas fouled out with 49 seconds left when he hacked Snow, who used his thumb to show Washington’s guard the way back to the bench.

James got his 10th rebound with 22 seconds to go, prompting Cavs fans into another chorus of “M-V-P! M-V-P!,” a chant they started early in the game when Cleveland’s superstar helped an official corral a stray balloon floating near the floor.

“I was going to let the ref get it, but figured that if I grabbed it, maybe he’d give me a few more calls,” James joked.

Cleveland was up by 14 at halftime, and James helped push the Cavs’ advantage to 17 after three with a memorable assist to Murray. Driving the lane, James went into the air, turned his head to the right and delivered a left-handed scoop underneath to Murray, whose layup made it 74-57.

When the Wizards closed within 13 in the fourth, James isolated Butler on the left side, blew past him and soared for a strong layup to make it 89-74 with 4:44 remaining.

“He controlled the game,” Wizards forward Jared Jeffries said. “You could live with him getting 30 points, but what you don’t want is 11 rebounds and 11 assists.”

James showed a bit of nervousness early on, shooting an airball on his first jumper. But once he settled down, it was business as usual. He scored 13 points with four assists and three rebounds in the first quarter, helping the Cavs open a 31-20 lead.

“My first shot in my first All-Star game was an airball, too,” James said.

With the score tied 18-all, James drained a 3-pointer from up top and scored nine straight points. He then fed Marshall in the right corner for a 3 as the Cavaliers ripped off 12 in a row and closed the period with a 13-2 spurt.

Notes

James had his choice of three new pairs of Nikes to wear in his playoff debut. He selected white ones with large gold straps across the tongue. James wrote “Brenda. R.I.P” on them, a salute to a high school teammate’s mother who died recently. … The Wizards were to return home after the game. “Being an afternoon game, we can rest at home tonight and have a light practice Sunday,” Jordan said. “It’s always better to be comfortable at home.” … Wizards C Etan Thomas, who missed the final three regular-season games with back spasms, played 7 minutes and scored 2 points.

CLEVELAND (AP) — As shiny maroon and gold-colored confetti fluttered around them, the Cavaliers circled on the floor after winning their regular-season finale and peeled off their home jerseys.

Then, they kicked off their sneakers and handed the items to some lucky fans.

The Cavs don'’t have to wait until next season for new ones. This spring, there are more games to be played.

For the first time in a long time, Cleveland won'’t be watching the NBA playoffs.

A season of highs and lows, twists and turns and countless hold-your-breath moments from LeBron James will reach another level on Saturday when the Cavaliers host the Washington Wizards in Game 1 of their first-round Eastern Conference series. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is set for Tuesday.

“Yeah, I think we'’re ready,” said Cavs guard Larry Hughes, who spent three seasons with Washington before leaving as a free agent last summer. “I know we'’ve been tested by our circumstances.”

Sure enough. The Cavaliers (50-32), returning to the playoffs for the first time since 1998, overcame losing Hughes for 45 games after he had two surgeries on a fractured middle finger. The club also withstood other ailments that necessitated continuous lineup changes and the Cavs had to shake off the lingering effects of their second-half collapse in 2005.

Despite a rookie coach, a roster of new players and James having to log too many minutes while contending with double- and triple-teams, the Cavaliers held together and posted one of the most successful regular seasons in franchise history.

“I know there were a lot of people who thought we would fold after the All-Star break, just like last year’’s team did,” said forward Donyell Marshall, who like Hughes, chose the Cavs over the Wizards in free agency. “We didn'’t.”

On their previous visit to the playoffs, the Cavaliers were a young, promising team — a lot like this one, really. Led by a still slender Shawn Kemp in ‘’98, Cleveland lost in four games to a more experienced Indiana Pacers team.

A rookie back then, Cavs center Zydrunas Ilgauskas figured he would be playing regularly in the postseason.

“I thought that was the way it always would be, you play the regular season and go to the playoffs,” said Ilgauskas, the only Cleveland player left from the ‘’98 squad. “Little did I know that it would be a long time before I got back and it really makes me appreciate it.”

Ilgauskas'’ gratitude stems from a series of medical setbacks for the 7-foot-3 Lithuanian, who nearly retired because of serious foot injuries and only came back following a radical procedure during which his left foot was rebuilt.

His comeback parallels one by the Cavaliers, who went 17-65 in the season before James arrived.

“I'’ve gone through a lot in the last eight years,” said Ilgauskas, who except for a recent sprained ankle has been exceptionally durable the past four seasons. “All the work to put my body in shape to play in the NBA paid off. I was thinking about that when we made the playoffs, but this is hopefully just the first step. This team is good enough to win in the playoffs, too.”

The Wizards took the season series between the clubs, going 3-1 by winning the final three matchups.

Recently, a few of the Washington players said they would prefer playing the Cavaliers.

“They won the series,” coach Mike Brown said. “I would want to play us, too.”

Although the No. 4 seed, the Cavaliers are seen by many as the underdog in the series because of their lack of recent playoff experience. The Wizards, on the other hand, made it to the playoffs a year ago, eliminating Chicago in the first round before losing to Miami in the conference semifinals.

But Cleveland does have players who have been to the postseason, including Hughes, who feels the biggest adjustment to playing deeper in April is staying focused during a time when there are distractions — family and friends in need of tickets, media, the warmer weather — all around.

“A lot of people say the fouls are harder, the intensity is more in the playoffs,” Hughes said. “But during the course of the season there are four or five big games that are playoff-type games, so you kind of know the intensity level.

“But for me it’s all about the focus. You know, the sun is out, every day is nice from this point on, but you’ve got to be ready to play.”