CLEVELAND, April 22 (UPI) -- Larry Hughes scored 27 points Sunday as Cleveland beat Washington 97-82 in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series.
Cleveland held a 48-41 halftime lead, and Washington closed to 54-52 with 8:57 left in the third quarter.
Cleveland asserted its superiority over the injury-plagued Wizards from that point by scoring 43 of the game's final 73 points.
Cleveland led 89-74 with 4:58 remaining, and Washington never got closer than 13 points the rest of the way.
The Cavaliers also got 23 points, nine rebounds and seven assists from LeBron James, 16 points and eight rebounds from Zydrunas Ilgauskas, and 10 points, six rebounds and three assists from Drew Gooden.
Antawn Jamison led Washington with a game-high 28 points and 14 rebounds. Jarvis Hayes was the only other player in double figures with 18 points for the Wizards, who continue to struggle without injured all-stars Gilbert Arenas and Caron Butler.
