LeBron is taking a beating

Coach Mike Brown wants the Cavs’ ace to get more protection from officials.

GATEHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

CLEVELAND — With each pound of his fist on the table, Mike Brown made his point loud and clear Saturday. His All-Star forward, LeBron James, “is getting clobbered,” and the Cavs coach is tired of it.

The side of Brown’s hand thundered off the table to put extra emphasis in the words — “boom, boom, boom” — he used to describe some of the hits James absorbed Saturday in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series with the Wizards.

The Cavs won, 93-86, but it’s clear Brown wants James to get more protection from officials in tonight’s Game 2 at Quicken Loans Arena.

“LeBron is so strong, quick and athletic, that when he drives, he gets hit all the time,” Brown said after Sunday’s practice. “And teams like Washington have come out and said, ‘We’re fouling him when he gets in the paint.’ So that’s something you’d hope the officials take a look at; when he drives the basketball, they’ve already said, they’re fouling him.

“So if that’s the case, don’t wait and let it be a real, real, real hard foul and ... [wait until] you have a scuffle on your hands.”

James got fouled hard several times Saturday.

He also took one shot to the face that did not draw a foul.

And by the end of the first half, the two teams squared off in a heated exchange of words and shoves.

“You got to let your game speak for itself, but at the same time, you don’t want to back down,” James said Sunday of an incident that began when Washington 7-footer Brendan Haywood knocked him down with an illegal screen.

James took exception to Haywood standing over him after the foul was called, leading to the brief fracas with 1.3 seconds left in the half.

No one wants to see a repeat of that incident during the series.

“Let’s make it a clean game,” Brown said. “If it’s a foul ... call it a foul. Don’t call a bump on ... somebody else because they’re smaller, but disregard it with LeBron because it doesn’t dislodge him or make him change his route or whatever the terms are that they use.”

Washington coach Eddie Jordan didn’t think his team stepped over the line.

“They weren’t flagrant, they were meant to protect the rim,” Jordan said Sunday.

“As long as they aren’t flagrant, I think they are professional plays. LeBron’s very good at avoiding charges, so we are not going to try to take charges on him because of his body control.”

The 6-foot-8, 250-pound James has grown accustomed to taking punishment.

And he doesn’t think Washington is trying to hurt him or that officials intentionally let things go.

“But there’s a difference between a foul and a ‘LeBron foul.’ I think we all can notice that now,” he said.