Haywood got James' attention

The Wizards center's hard foul on LeBron James set the pace in Game 2.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Brendan Haywood wasn't even supposed to be starting this series. His play for the Washington Wizards has been overlooked so often that he started referring to himself and Jared Jeffries as the "Little Two" -- as opposed to the Big Three that lead the team in scoring and publicity.
The 7-foot center made his mark, however, against none other than LeBron James in Game 2 of the Wizards' first-round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. His not-so-gentle bear hug of James driving the lane set the tone for Tuesday's 89-84 victory, which tied the series at one game apiece.
"One play doesn't win a ball game," Haywood said after a short practice Wednesday at the Verizon Center. "Some guys said it helped us out a lot. I'm not sure. It was just one play. It was something I felt needed to be done. I thought the team as a whole, we all knew we had to be better and bring a more physical presence."
Game's turning point
Haywood can downplay his hard foul all he wants, but consider this: James made both free throws after the foul to give Cleveland a 21-8 lead with 3:47 to go in the first quarter -- and didn't score again for nearly 14 minutes.
The Wizards had caught up by the time James made his next basket, a layup with two minutes remaining in the half.
"Jared had a great foul, then it led to Brendan's foul," forward Caron Butler said. "That solidified what we were trying to do in the paint. I don't think it rattled him, but I think it made him think twice about coming in there. He's still a great player, he does so many things well, but he did think twice about coming in there."
James certainly wasn't his usual self. After a triple-double playoff debut in Game 1, he had 10 turnovers in Game 2 and scored 26 points on 7-of-25 shooting. He missed a dunk and cost his team late by throwing the ball underneath the Cleveland basket while trying to save it from going out of bounds. The Wizards intercepted for an easy score.
Led NBA in three-point plays
Not that James isn't used to getting fouled -- it's just that he often doesn't get fouled hard enough. He led the NBA with 79 three-point plays during the regular season. The Wizards felt it was time he started shooting two free throws -- instead of one.
"It's just a play where you foul somebody hard, aggressively and make sure they don't get the layup," Haywood said. "LeBron's so strong, you have to foul him hard because, as you saw in Game 1, if you foul him like the average guard, he's going to finish on you."
It worked fine for Game 2, but seven-game series are all about adjustments and counterattacks. The Wizards made several tactical changes after their embarrassment in Game 1 -- including the decision to dispense with the constant double-teams and guard James one-on-one -- but the Cavaliers have two days to come up with a response when the series shifts to Washington for Friday's Game 3.
LeBron lauds Wizards
"I know that hard fouls are going to happen," James said. "They've been reading up on the clippings about me leading the league in 'and-ones,' so they did a good job of trying to foul me before I got the ball up. That's just playoff basketball. I've always said that I could take those hits. All in all, the Wizards did a great job of coming in here and beating us."
The Wizards also won because Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Butler combined for 72 points, 50 percent better than their 48 points in Game 1. Their 67.1 average during the regular season made them the highest scoring trio in the league.
But coach Eddie Jordan wanted to make sure that just dues went to Haywood and Jeffries, who was the main defender on James.
"We talk about the Big Three, but who made the most contributions? The Little Two," Jordan said. "Brendan's hard foul and Jared's defense."