Spotlight shines on LeBron's skills

The Cavaliers' leader soared in his NBA playoff debut.
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.
McCarthy and Magic
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 and Magic Johnson equaled the feat 20 years later with the Los Angeles Lakers.
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.
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."
All angles
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.
Double-team strategy
Washington also attempted to double-team James, rushing a second defender at him when he crossed midcourt.
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 Sunday, the Wizards, who returned to Washington following the game, began working on new schemes to try and slow James in Game 2 Tuesday night.
"We'll make some adjustments, but we have to do things better," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said.
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.