LeBron James gets the headlines, but as the Cleveland Cavaliers closed out the Washington Wizards tonight, we can’t just give LeBron the credit. While James scored a triple-double with 27 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists, it was the outside shooting of Wally Szczerbiak and Daniel Gibson that helped LeBron reach the triple-double and helped lead the Cavs to a 105-88 win in Game #6. Szczerbiak and Gibson combined to shoot 18-32 from the field, 10-19 from beyond the arc, and score a combined 48 points for Cleveland as Wally nailed 6 3-pointers and Gibson hit 4. Only Zydrunas Ilgauskas joined James, Gibson and Szczerbiak in double figured as “Z” added 12 points in 32 minutes.
LeBron played a game that even Skip Bayless would have a hard time criticizing as he shot 8-17 overall, 1-2 from 3-point range, 10-10 from the free throw line and had a playoff career-high with the 13 assists. The triple-double marked the 20th of LeBron’s career and 3rd career playoff triple-double.
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With the win, Cleveland advances to the Eastern Conference Semifinals where they will face the winner of #1 Boston and #8 Atlanta who will meet in Boston on Sunday in Game #7 of their series. Should the favored Celtics win on Sunday, Cleveland will likely play Game #1 on Tuesday night in Boston. Should the underdog Atlanta Hawks win in Boston on Sunday, Cleveland would host Atlanta on Tuesday night in Game #1 of the semifinals.