Wiz cut deficit, all even

<p><em></em>WASHINGTON - Hold on, LeBron. Gilbert Arenas and the Washington Wizards aren't quite ready to pack it in.</p><p>With LeBron James suddenly, stunningly, quiet after a tremendous first half Sunday night, Arenas recovered from an awful start to lead Washington's comeback for a 106-96 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers, tying the first-round series at 2-2.</p><p>Arenas scored 20 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter, making his first five shots of the period. That spurt ended with a 3-pointer that put Washington ahead 96-87 with under 3 minutes left, and Arenas held his shooting pose and nodded.</p><p>As dominant as James was early, setting franchise playoff records for points in a quarter (18) and half (25), he was nowhere to be found at times in the second half. He took only three shots in the third quarter, missed all, and wound up with 38 points.</p><p>And, in a perfect mirror image, Arenas made up for his 1-for-9, six-point first half in a big way down the stretch.</p><p>He got going a bit with eight points in the third quarter, as Washington whittled a 13-point deficit. Arenas was fouled on a drive to the basket with 0.4 seconds left in that period, and with chants of "M-V-P! M-V-P!" ringing off the rafters, he made both free throws to tie the game at 72 heading to the fourth.</p><p>That figured to setup Bron-Bron vs. Gil, Part II, after their down-the-stretch duel in Game 3. In that one Friday, James hit the go-ahead shot with 5.7 seconds left in the game to finish off his 41-point performance, and Arenas - who scored half of his 34 in the fourth quarter - missed an open 3-pointer that would have won it.</p><p>But while James opened the fourth with a 3-pointer, his sixth of the game, Arenas answered right away from beyond the arc. Antawn Jamison tacked on another 3 for Washington, giving the hosts their first lead since early in the second quarter, and Arenas added a long jumper to make it 80-76.</p><p>Just as in Washington's Game 2 victory, Arenas got plenty of help from his top two sidekicks, Jamison and Caron Butler. Jamison had 22 points and 10 rebounds, and Butler added 21 points - 14 in the second half - and some tough defense on James.</p><p>In the fourth quarter, as Washington was padding its lead, it wasn't James who was taking Cleveland's shots. Nope, it was the likes of Donyell Marshall, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Damon Jones who were getting plenty of touches.</p><p>Flip Murray scored 19, and the only other Cavaliers player in double figures was Ilgauskas with 13.</p><p>Game 5 is Wednesday at Cleveland.</p><p>James wound up with six rebounds and five assists, but he also had seven turnovers, including four on offensive fouls. After one in the fourth quarter, he put his palms up and mouthed, "What did I do?" His coach, Mike Brown, crumpled a paper cup and threw it to the ground.</p><p>Earlier, James turned to Brown and complained loudly about the officiating. During Saturday's off-day, it was Wizards coach Eddie Jordan who spoke about the referees, saying he thought James was getting preferential treatment.</p><p>Booed every time he touched the ball at the offensive end in the early going, James was as efficient as could be in his marvelous first quarter. He began 6-for-7 from the field - 4-for-4 on 3-pointers - and his finish on a breakaway capped a run in which James scored 15 of the Cavaliers' 16 points.</p><p>Washington tried all manner of holding James in check, with Butler, Jared Jeffries, and Antonio Daniels all guarding him. Arenas, meanwhile, missed his first five shots. But Jamison kept the Wizards in it, recovering quickly from his second-half disappearance in Game 3, when he scored all of two points. He scored 17 in the first half Sunday, and his 3-pointer 7 minutes before the break made it 36-all, and Washington led 38-36 after Daniels' jumper.</p><p>From there, though, Cleveland outscored Washington 21-8 to grab a 57-46 halftime edge. The most encouraging part for the Cavs? James actually got an extended breather, sitting for the last 2:17 of the half. He played the whole way in Game 1, and rested a grand total of 23 seconds in Game 3.</p><p>But he picked up his second foul when Jeffries drew a charge, a call that drew a sarcastic laugh from James, who sat shortly thereafter.</p><p><b>Notes:</b> The Cavaliers watched the end of the Suns-Lakers overtime game on a big-screen TV in the visiting locker room. When Kobe Bryant hit the winning shot, there were shouts of "Show-Be!" and "Kobe Jordan!". ... Jordan said he hadn't heard from the NBA about his comments Saturday that James should have been called for traveling on his winning shot in Game 3, and that James is getting calls Arenas isn't. Asked if he's ready for whatever decision the NBA makes, which could include a fine, Jordan said: "I am. My wife's probably not, but I am."</p><p></p><h3>Kobe in clutch</h3> <p><em></em>LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Lakers needed two last-gasp shots from Kobe Bryant to beat the Phoenix Suns.</p><p>And two uncharacteristic mistakes from Phoenix star Steve Nash.</p><p>Bryant made a looping runner with seven-tenths of a second left in the fourth quarter to force overtime, and a 17-footer as time expired to lift the Lakers to an improbable 99-98 victory over the Suns and a 3-1 lead in the first-round Western Conference playoff series.</p><p>"It was the most fun shot I've ever hit, just because it's us, enjoying this as a unit," Bryant said regarding the latest in a long line of buzzer-beaters during his 10-year career.</p><p>Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal led the Lakers to three championships, from 2000-02, but with O'Neal gone, last year's team failed to make the playoffs.</p><p>Many thought it would be the same story this season. But now, the Lakers are one win away from advancing to the second round.</p><p>"I have played a lot of playoff basketball and I have never had a game quite like this, with our backs against the wall, seemingly out of it, and us just battling back and getting this 'W,"' Bryant said. "We matured about 10 to 15 years today. We did a lot of growing up in this game."</p><p>The Lakers, who have won the last three games, can win the best-of-seven series Tuesday night in Phoenix. A sixth game, if necessary, would be Thursday at Staples Center.</p><p>The Suns appeared to have the game won late in the fourth quarter and again in overtime, but the Lakers took advantage of Nash's mistakes.</p><p>Nash made a 3-pointer with 50 seconds left in overtime to give the Suns a 98-95 lead. Bryant's layup with 11.7 seconds remaining drew the Lakers within one point, and Luke Walton tied Nash up with 6.1 seconds to play.</p><p>Walton won the tip, with Bryant chasing the ball down near the scorer's table and then dribbling to the right corner of the key, where his ninth field goal in 14 tries swished through cleanly.</p><p>"It felt routine to me," Bryant said.</p><p>The Lakers then mobbed their superstar, who has become more of a facilitator than a scorer during this series, with his output dropping more than a dozen points from his 35.4-point average during the regular season.</p><p>"I have been involved in a lot of wild ones, and that one was right up there," said Phil Jackson, who has coached an NBA record-tying nine championship teams including three with the Lakers.</p><p>The shot Bryant made to tie the game at 90 and force overtime was made possible when Smush Parker poked the ball away from Nash. Phoenix's James Jones then failed to score after taking a lob pass near the Lakers' basket as the fourth period ended.</p><p>Nash wouldn't say he got fouled on either big play he was involved in.</p><p>"In those situations, those are tough calls to make," he said. "The first one, I slipped. "The second was pretty physical. Boris (Diaw) was calling time out. I don't know. It was a jump ball.</p><p>"There were some costly plays down the stretch that didn't go our way. We did everything we could to win the game. It wasn't meant to be."</p><p>Nash also said his back stiffened up after he returned to the game early in the fourth quarter, but quickly added: "We still had our chances to win."</p><p>He shot 2-of-11 after halftime.</p><p>Regarding Bryant, Nash said: "It was amazing. He had two opportunities and made two great shots."</p><p>Phoenix's Tim Thomas expressed anger and frustration concerning the big plays involving Nash.</p><p>"We have Nash, the NBA's MVP last year, and he can't get a call," Thomas said, alluding to the play when Parker stole the ball.</p><p>"Boris and Steve called timeout, but we did not get the call," Thomas said of the play leading to the jump ball. "It was the most difficult loss, by far, of my career."</p><p>Lamar Odom led the Lakers with 25 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Bryant had 24 points and eight assists, Kwame Brown added 12 points and 10 rebounds, and Devean George scored 11 points - all but two in the fourth quarter.</p><p>Nash led the Suns with 22 points and 11 assists, but scored only six points after halftime. Diaw had 21 points, eight rebounds and seven assists, Shawn Marion had 20 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out with 2:37 left in the fourth quarter, and Thomas scored 12 points.</p><p>"I thought we had it won twice," Marion said.</p><p>The Suns took what appeared to be a safe 90-85 lead on Diaw's foul shot with 12.6 seconds remaining, but Parker made a 3-pointer with 7.9 seconds left to draw the Lakers within two. He was 1-of-10 from the field before that.</p><p>Phoenix then called a timeout, and Parker made his big steal from Nash shortly after the Suns inbounded the ball in their frontcourt. George got the ball to Bryant for the game-tying basket.</p><p>"We made big shots, but they made bigger shots," Suns coach Mike D'Antoni said.</p><p>Bryant played only 9 minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, but the Suns failed to take advantage. The game was tied 41-all at halftime.</p><p><b>Notes:</b> The Lakers have won 12 of their last 13 home games and 14 of their last 18 overall. ... The Lakers outrebounded the Suns 42-41 after outrebounding them 53-34 in Game 3, which they won 99-92. ... No team coached by Jackson has ever lost a series when leading 2-1, going 22-0 in such situations. ... Marion got his first double-double of the series. He was third in the NBA with 60 during the regular season ... Lakers C Chris Mihm was on the inactive list because of his sprained right ankle. He missed 17 of the final 18 games of the regular season and hasn't played in this series.</p><p></p>