Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Sports News

NBA: Washington 109, Cleveland 101

(Boxscore)
|
|
 
  
Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) scores in the 1st half against Washington Wizards forward Caron Butler (3) at Verizon Center in Washington on April 2, 2009. (UPI Photo/ Mark Goldman) 
License photo
Published: April 2, 2009 at 11:25 PM

WASHINGTON, April 2 (UPI) -- Caron Butler scored 25 points Thursday and the Washington Wizards held on down the stretch to pull off an unlikely 109-101 victory over Cleveland.

The Cavaliers' franchise-record 13-game winning streak came to an end and their lead over the Los Angeles Lakers for the best mark in the NBA was reduced to two games.

Washington came into the game with just 17 victories for the season, second fewest in the league. The Wizards, however, shot 50 percent from the field, made 26-of-30 from the foul line and maintained their poise in the final minutes.

Butler made two of Washington's five free throws in the closing 22 seconds to protect the lead.

Gilbert Arenas and Brendan Haywood each played just their second game of the season for Washington and they were two of six Wizards to score in double figures. Arenas had 11 points and 10 assists, while Hayward scored 12 points with 10 rebounds.

The Wizards had lost eight of their previous nine games.

LeBron James led Cleveland with 31 points, nine rebounds and six assists. James, however, turned the ball over six times.

Cleveland had not lost since a March 6 setback in Boston.

Topics: Caron Butler
© 2009 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Linsanity The Daytona 500 Cheerleaders of 2012
Additional Sports News Stories
1 of 27
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego wins Finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee
View Caption
Snigdha Nandipati of San Diego, California watches confetti rain down as she wins the two-day Scripps National Spelling Bee championship, May 31, 2012, in National Harbor, Maryland. Nandipati successfully spelled the word .* guetapens *, meaning to lure or ambush. UPI/Mike Theiler
fark
Today's mass mall shooting brought to you by Toronto, ON
Iowa school superintendent abruptly resigns after they learn she was using her work email to conduct...
New radio-transmission analysis provides credible evidence that Amelia Earhart landed on small Pacific...
Although it is wildly amusing in movies, in real life nobody laughs when you drive off with a baby...
One advantage of going sleep drunk
Chicago Fark Party - 9 June - New bat time, new bat channel