(4) Cleveland Cavaliers (3-2) At (5) Washington Wizards (2-3), 7 P.m.
(Sports Network) - The Washington Wizards attempt to force a Game 7 with a win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, as the teams continue their Eastern Conference quarterfinals series at the Verizon Center. Cleveland leads this best-of-seven series 3-2. If necessary, Game 7 is scheduled for Sunday at Quicken Loans Arena. Washington stayed alive on Wednesday in Cleveland. Caron Butler had a playoff- career-high 32 points, including the game-winning bucket with 3.9 seconds remaining, and the fifth-seeded Wizards earned an 88-87 victory over the fourth-seeded Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena. Butler shot 11-for-22 from the floor, grabbed nine rebounds and handed out five assists in the victory. DeShawn Stevenson added 17 points and five rebounds for the Wizards. Superstar LeBron James scored 34 points, pulled down 10 rebounds and dished out seven assists, but his potential answer to Butler's go-ahead hoop rimmed out as time expired and the Cavs' five-game home-playoff winning streak against Washington came to an end. Zydrunas Ilgauskas 19 points and six rebounds for Cleveland, which shot 36 percent from the floor as a team. Washington will be without forward Darius Songaila, who received a one game suspension earlier Friday for striking James in the face with his hand in the first quarter of Game 5. Prior to Game 5, Washington's Gilbert Arenas announced about an hour before the scheduled tip-off that he would be shelved for the season, having missed the previous two practice days after consulting with the team's trainer. The Arizona product returned April 3 after missing 66 games during the regular season, and was available at a limited capacity during the first four games of the series with the Cavaliers. Cleveland guard Sasha Pavlovic (sprained left ankle) is questionable. Pavlovic has not played in this year's playoffs, and last played for the Cavaliers on April 14. Washington has won two of its last three Games 6s in the postseason Cleveland has lost four of its last seven when it has the chance to eliminate its opponent from the playoffs. The Cavaliers are 3-5 all-time in Games 6s in the postseason. Washington's last three playoff appearances have come to an end at home. The Cavaliers have defeated Washington two straight years in the opening round of the playoffs. They were seeded No. 2 last year and swept the seventh-seeded Wizards in the quarterfinals of the conference playoffs. The year before, Cleveland needed six games to dispose of the Wizards. Led by James last season, the Cavs breezed past Washington before beating both New Jersey and Detroit in six games to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA finals against San Antonio. However, the Spurs broke out the brooms on Cleveland with a sweep for their fourth NBA title in nine years.
Copyright 2008 Courtesy of The Sports Network.





