Playoffs | LeBron James quiets Wizards in clinching 105-88 victory

WASHINGTON — LeBron James had the last word.

In an NBA playoff series filled with trash talk, hard fouls, 13 technicals, one ejection and one suspension, James was everywhere and did a little bit of everything in Game 6. And, in what's become his personal rite of spring, he led the Cleveland Cavaliers past the Washington Wizards.

James compiled 27 points, 13 rebounds and 13 assists for his third career playoff triple-double while helping slow Caron Butler at the defensive end, and the Cavaliers beat the Wizards 105-88 on Friday night to close the contentious series.

"Cleveland is advancing. We won the series 4-2. That speaks louder than me saying anything about the fans here, anything about DeShawn Stevenson," James said, referring to the Wizards guard who called him overrated. "Cleveland is advancing. That's all that matters."

It's the third consecutive postseason that the Cavaliers eliminated the Wizards in the first round — ending each of those series on Washington's home floor.

"Three times in a row. It's tough," Washington's Antonio Daniels said. "But who knows what happens if we have a healthy team? A healthy Gilbert Arenas? If we had Darius Songaila for Game 6 — who knows what happens?"

Songaila, a reserve forward, was barred from Friday's game by the NBA for hitting James in the face at Cleveland in Game 5, a one-point Washington victory that extended the series.

Cleveland, which reached the NBA Finals a year ago, now faces Boston or Atlanta. The Celtics host the Hawks in Game 7 on Sunday, and whoever wins will have to try to do something Washington certainly could not: stop James.

"We have LeBron on our team, and there are 30 other teams or 29 who don't," Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas said, "and that's the biggest difference."

James was more of a passer than a scorer early. That allowed his teammates to get in a rhythm, and Wally Szczerbiak scored a career playoff-best 26 points, Daniel Gibson added 22, and they combined to make 10 of Cleveland's 11 three-pointers.

"He passed up a couple of wide-open shots to get even more wide-open shots for me," Szczerbiak said.

At Utah 113, Houston 91

Deron Williams scored 13 of his 25 points in the decisive third quarter, and the Jazz beat the Rockets to win the series 4-2 and knock the Rockets out of the playoffs in the opening round for the second straight year.

The Jazz were determined to avoid a Game 7 in Houston, site of their embarrassing 95-69 loss in Game 5 on Tuesday.

Tracy McGrady scored 40 for the Rockets, but could not beat the Jazz by himself and fell to 0-7 in playoff series.

Luis Scola was the only other Rockets player in double figures with 15 points. The Rockets lost point guard Rafer Alston with a sprained ankle late in the second quarter and the offense never recovered.

At Atlanta 103, Boston 100

ATLANTA — The Hawks just won't let go of their first trip to the postseason in nine years.

The playoff team with the worst record did it again to the team with the best mark, forcing an improbable Game 7 with the Celtics, as Joe Johnson hit a crucial three-pointer with 1:07 remaining and the Hawks held on.

The Hawks, just 37-45 during the regular season, have beaten the Celtics three times in the space of a week to set up a deciding game in a series that was supposed to be a sweep. After all, Boston went an NBA-leading 66-16 and defeated Atlanta in all three meetings before the playoffs.

But, against all odds, the Hawks are heading to Boston for Game 7 on Sunday. The Celtics had won all three games on their home court in the series by an average of 22 points.

Marvin Williams led the Hawks with 18 points despite missing much of the fourth quarter with a sprained left knee. Kevin Garnett had 22 for the Celtics and Ray Allen added 20.