INDEPENDENCE: Z wanted the basketball.

With the Cavaliers ahead by five points and fewer than two minutes left to go, center Zydrunas Ilgauskas wanted to do what he could to earn a Game 5 victory against the Washington Wizards.

As time ticked away and LeBron James chucked one off-the-mark 3-pointer and, seconds later, Daniel Gibson hoisted another, it was evident that Ilgauskas wouldn't get that chance even with Wizards center Brendan Haywood on the bench after fouling out.

The Cavs lost Game 5 to the Wizards 88-87 and now find themselves forced to play a sixth game tonight in Washington, D.C., ahead 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.

''It was bad decision-making on my part; I didn't call his number,'' Cavs coach Mike Brown said of Ilgauskas Thursday after practice. ''I thought we had some good
looks — one look that was a little questionable was probably LeBron's 3. In terms of Z not getting touches down the stretch, I didn't call his number, but I'll live with every other possession we had besides that 3.''

Ilgauskas offered no criticism of what happened, emphasizing that the Wizards played him well.

''It's hard to get anything in the post because they bottle up and send two people. I had a hard time getting the ball,'' he said. ''Usually they have two people on me even when I don't have the ball, usually someone in front of me and someone in back.''

Looking back, Gibson said that the opportunity existed for the team to look to Ilgauskas more during that stretch.

''That's a definite possibility. We definitely could have gone to Z in a couple of different situations, but at the same time, we have No. 23 out there on the floor,'' he said. ''It's kind of tough to say in which situation when to go away from him because he's come through for us so many times.''

It wasn't just the stretch run where problems revealed themselves during Game 5. The Cavaliers came out flat and looked all too willing to ride on James' shoulders to victory. This despite Ilgauskas making 8-of-11 shots for 19 points and six rebounds. Ilgauskas, perhaps, put it best regarding what went wrong.

''Just shot selection. We should have drove the ball to the basket and made them foul us,'' he said. ''I think we settled. It made it easier on them, especially with Haywood out of the game.''

Reality check

Gilbert Arenas shut it down for the rest of the season because of a knee injury before Game 5, and there was some thought that the Wizards would come out and roll over. Instead, Wizards forward Caron Butler picked up the slack and torched the Cavs for 32 points, nine rebounds and five assists.

''You could tell it left a real bad taste in our mouths,'' Gibson said of the Cavs' loss. ''We felt we didn't play as well as we should have. But everybody is motivated and looking forward to our next opportunity to get out on the floor.''

Dribbles

When asked about Wizards coach Eddie Jordan virtually guaranteeing a win tonight, Ilgauskas simply replied ''Good. A coach should be confident.'' . . . James had 34 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, making him only the fourth player in league history to achieve that feat in consecutive playoff games and the first to do so since Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics. Oscar Robertson and Dolph Schayes were the other two.