Wizards' mission: Slow down James

If LeBron's supporting cast continues to play well, Washington is in trouble.
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Chances are, jotted down on some yellow legal pad or locker room board in Washington's Verizon Center are the following words: 1. Stop LeBron James. 2. Stop LeBron James. 3. Stop LeBron James.
The Wizards know exactly what they must do to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the opening round of the NBA playoffs.
Now, they have to do it.
After James torched them for a triple-double -- 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists -- in his first playoff game, the Wizards must do a better job of containing Cleveland's 21-year-old marvel in Game 2 tonight. That, or fall behind 0-2 in the best-of-seven series just as they did in the first round a year ago before rallying to eliminate Chicago.
This challenge may be tougher.
"We have to take care of their star," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said, referring to James.
Strategy
The Wizards may try to bully the 6-foot-8 James by banging him, pushing him, elbowing him, doing anything they can to knock him off his game.
Washington got more physical with James late in Saturday's 97-86 loss, but by the time the Wizards got tough it was too late.
Trying that strategy again could be dangerous -- for many reasons.
"LeBron's bigger than most of the guys on their team, so I really don't know how that would work," said Cavaliers guard Larry Hughes, who played for the Wizards last season. "When you have 6-8, 260 coming at you, it's kind of hard to take a hard foul or try to send a message to a guy like that.
"If you're not careful, he's a load."
As the Wizards learned, James isn't the only Cleveland player they need to concentrate on.
James fought through double- and triple-teams to whip passes in every direction to open teammates. And Cleveland's supporting cast knocked down their shots, which wasn't always the case during the regular season.
Donyell Marshall came off the bench to make 3-pointers and tied his career playoff-high with 19 points. Eric Snow made his first four jumpers and matched his season-high with 14 points. Flip Murray and Zydrunas Ilgauskas scored 10 apiece.
Of the Cavs' top offensive threats, only Larry Hughes -- 2 points on 1-of-9 shooting -- had an off game. Cleveland's bench outscored Washington's 32-16, a trend the Cavaliers would love to continue.
"It's critical," Marshall said. "When you have one guy who scores, teams think, 'OK, we've got to stop LeBron.' Where as now, it's like, you stop LeBron, we still got four other people who still went out there and dominated. When we step up, it helps LeBron and it keeps teams on their heels."
Poor play
The Wizards, who went 3-1 against Cleveland in the regular season, weren't themselves in Game 1.
They rushed shots. They allowed the Cavaliers to get early momentum and keep it. They missed 11 free throws (25-of-36) and 19 3-pointers (3-of-22). After working so hard to make the playoffs, the Wizards didn't look like they belonged.
"We know we played like some trash out there," guard Gilbert Arenas said. "And now we know we need to play a lot better than we did. We need to put the pressure on them. I think we just set back and waited for them to attack us. We have to be the first ones to be aggressive."
Jordan's dilemma is picking his poison with James, who was only 12-of-27 from the floor but would have had another six assists if the Cavs had finished on some easy attempts inside.
The Wizards can't allow James to control the game for 48 minutes as he did Saturday.
"We've got to find ways to limit his touches," Jordan said. "Can we deny him more possessions? And when we do double him -- and it's no secret, we have to double him at times -- can we get out of the double team and get out to shooters and drivers and can we rebound the ball?"
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