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Pleasantries put aside, series is bitterness personified
By Patrick McManamon
Beacon Journal columnist
Published on Monday, Apr 21, 2008
CLEVELAND: When LeBron James walked on the court for Game 1 of the Cavs' playoff series, he did not greet any of the Washington Wizards.
He did not shake a hand, did not give a hug, did not give a point to his friend Gilbert Arenas on the Wizards bench.
Significant?
Better believe it.
James always, always, always shakes hands. This reception was arctic.
Soon the hard feelings spilled into the game.
James was hit in the mouth, then knocked down by Andray Blatche. The first one hurt for a bit — how the refs missed that call was nearly inexplicable — but after the second, James got up and went right to the free-throw line.
His response came soon after when he threw an elbow to Blatche's jaw — another miss by the officials.
Then James took umbrage at Brendan Haywood's silly foul at midcourt just before halftime. Well, he took umbrage at Haywood standing over him ''in a disrespectful manner.''
All this followed a comment by DeShawn Stevenson before the series that James was overrated, and other perceived trash talk by the Wizards — like Arenas maintaining that the Wizards were happy to get the Cavs.
Now, players have talked trash to each other for eons. Some guys use it to fire themselves up, others find things for motivation.
But there clearly was some bitterness on the floor Saturday, bitterness that goes beyond words. James said he never said anything personal to Stevenson, but he sure
played as if something personal had happened.
This was an angry start.
And it was exacerbated by the situation.
''I thought it might be a little more physical than it actually was,'' Cavs forward Joe Smith said.
Because it's the playoffs, Smith said, and what Blatche did was give ''playoff fouls.''
The thing is, someone on the Cavs had to respond, and the logical time seemed to be the next time the Wizards went to the basket. Had the Cavs not sent one of them into the photographers, it would have sent a message that they accepted what had happened to their superstar.
James didn't wait. He took care of things with his right elbow.
Then coach Mike Brown made a statement after the game when he talked about James being hammered on his way to the basket. Brown has stated several times this season that James does not get foul calls because he's so strong.
He stated it emphatically after Saturday's game.
''When smaller guys drive, if they get bumped and they holler, they're making the call,'' Brown said. ''When LeBron drives, he's getting hit, hit, hit and it's got to be a blow for the whistle to be called.''
Every time he said ''hit,'' Brown pounded the interview table.
The emphasis was clear.
''Yes, he had 14 free throws, but if you go back and watch the tape, he is getting clobbered,'' Brown said.
Brown emphasized this message Sunday when he said it was clear how the Wizards were going to treat James, and the referees should respect it and be aware of it.
The Wizards' play was typical of push-the-envelope playoff style.
It wasn't dirty, but the way the Wizards high-fived Blatche after he knocked James down twice pretty much indicates what he was sent on the court to do. The case could even be made that James' elbow to Blatche's jaw was dirty — and deserving of a second look by the league.
After Game 1, the Wizards had their goody-two-shoes on.
Stevenson said he was done talking, and Arenas was pretty quiet (which usually happens when you go 0-for-4 in crunch time).
''You have teams that don't like each other on the court, but love each other off the court,'' Arenas said.
He said the teams got in a little scuffle, but added: ''Everything was cool.''
OK, let's say the talk does stop.
But that won't affect the way the series is played, or the way the Wizards attack James.
He is the guy who can beat them, the guy who has beaten them. And he's beaten them again and again and again.
They will continue to do all they can to push the envelope to try to stop him.
Patrick McManamon can be reached at pmcmanamon@thebeaconjournal.com. Read his blog at http://www.ohiomm.com/blogs/mcmanamon/
CLEVELAND: When LeBron James walked on the court for Game 1 of the Cavs' playoff series, he did not greet any of the Washington Wizards.
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