With talk toned down, Cavs-Wiz becomes Butler vs. LeBron

5/1/2008 4:59 PM

By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP Sports Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Shhhhh!

That, essentially, was what Washington Wizards co-captains Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison told teammates. Be quiet off the court, and play better on it against LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers.

Tellingly, neither DeShawn Stevenson nor Brendan Haywood met with the media horde after the Wizards' brief practice and video session Thursday.

``We just said, 'It's time to stop all the talking.' A lot of guys were trying to defend themselves as far as this and that. But it wasn't working,'' Jamison said the day before Game 6. ``We said: 'The ultimate changearound is for us to just be quiet and find a way to come back from 3-1 and win the series.' I think they finally got it.''

It was Stevenson who began the public chatter by calling James overrated, then helped escalate what became a back-and-forth involving rappers, a throat-slashing gesture and a flying headband. It was Haywood who mimicked a whiny voice to mock James' protests of rough play.

Both Stevenson and Haywood were whistled for flagrant fouls on James - Washington's center was ejected from Game 2 - and Gilbert Arenas pointed to that as the biggest reason for zipping lips.

``We stopped talking because they've been giving us technicals and fouls. That's why,'' said Arenas, who ruled himself out for the rest of the season before Wednesday's Game 5 because of his surgically-repaired knee.

Washington won 88-87 to pull within 3-2 in the best-of-seven series, and it was Butler who produced his best showing of these playoffs.

No one will say the Wizards are better off without the not-quite-himself Arenas - ``I'm the captain, and I'm telling you: He's the best player on this team. How can you be better without him? That's it,'' Jamison said - but the point guard's absence allowed Butler to get more touches and be more assertive.

``Caron wants an opportunity to lead a team,'' reserve guard Roger Mason Jr. said. ``He willed us to that victory yesterday. His personality was on the floor, and I think it's good for us.''

Through the first four games, Butler averaged 15.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.3 assists, while shooting 1-for-9 on 3-pointers. In Game 5, the two-time All-Star finished with 32 points, nine rebounds and five assists, going 4-for-8 on 3s, and making the go-ahead basket with 3.9 seconds left.

``He made some big, big plays for us,'' Wizards president Ernie Grunfeld said.

``Pretty much put us on his back,'' Jamison said.

Butler is still dealing with various nagging injuries, including to his right knee and his hip. He missed 20 of Washington's last 35 regular-season games and acknowledged Thursday he's been trying to get his rhythm back. So it must be back now, right?

``Not all the way there,'' Butler said, ``but I'm feeling better.''

The Cavaliers certainly noticed.

``He picked up his game a lot with Gilbert out. He got more touches,'' Cavaliers guard Daniel Gibson said. ``We give respect to him for the way he performed, but we'll definitely look to change a few things.''

Cleveland coach Mike Brown will have James guard Butler at times in Game 6, but not for the entire game.

``If I could keep him off of Butler, that's what we would prefer to do. But a guy like Caron, you've got to give him different looks and put bodies on him. You have to sometimes double-team him,'' Brown said. ``We've got to keep trying to mix it up and hopefully we don't have to put LeBron on him for long stretches.''

As this series becomes more about basketball, it also morphs from being about James and Stevenson trading words to being about James and Butler trading baskets.

``We believe he can win this series for them - that's how dangerous he is,'' Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said about Butler. ``We're going to have to be more aggressive with him and maybe make him drive the ball a little more. He's shown he can shoot the ball.''

Like Stevenson and Haywood, James - who is averaging 30.4 points, 8.8 rebounds and 6.6 assists in the series - didn't speak to reporters Thursday.

Still, it wouldn't seem right if a day passed without some sort of verbal tweak during a series between teams that know each other so well. Cleveland eliminated Washington in the 2005-06 and 2006-07 playoffs.

So leave it to Wizards coach Eddie Jordan to deliver the line of the day.

The coach was asked whether he'd had a chance to see video of the play on which Wizards forward Darius Songaila was called for a technical foul when he clipped James on the chin in Game 5.

``I stand my ground. I thought he got tangled up with LeBron, and LeBron tried to get untangled. And in his method of trying to get untangled, Darius' arm just flew at his chin,'' Jordan said.

Then, straightfaced as could be, Jordan continued: ``And LeBron's a terrific actor. We've seen some of his commercials.''

AP Sports Writer Tom Withers in Independence, Ohio, contributed to this report.