Butler's heroics keep Wizards' season alive, Celtics go up 3-2

Butler poured in a playoff career-high 32 points, including the go-ahead layup with 3.9 seconds remaining, and the Wizards staved off elimination on Wednesday night with a thrilling 88-87 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers to pull within 3-2 in their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.

 "We've heard all the quotes that said the series wasn't going back home, but this team has been through adversity all season long," Butler said. "We've been told what we can't do and what we couldn't overcome and we've been proving doubters wrong all season. This was another obstacle.

 "Tonight, our backs were against the wall and you don't want to live with any regrets," he continued. "We didn't want to be, should've, would've, or could've. That's exactly what the case was. I went out there, stayed aggressive for four quarters and we were successful."

   The Wizards trailed by five with 1:47 left, before Butler drove past LeBron James for the eventual game-winner, capping a 6-0 closing run.

 "I saw LeBron back up and I was going to take a jump shot," Butler said. "But I didn't want to look back at the season and say I settled. I tried to go in there, get contact, get it to go in and that's what happened."

   The Cavaliers had a final shot to eliminate the Wizards for the third consecutive post-season. Following a timeout, James drove the lane through three defenders and was bumped. However the superstar couldn't get the call or his layup to fall off the glass at the buzzer, giving the Wizards life.

 "I knew I was able to get to rim. I laid it off the backboard and thought it was going in, but it just didn't fall," said James, who finished with 34 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists. "There was contact, but I'm supposed to make those shots."

   Zydrunas Ilgauskas had 19 points of the Cavaliers, who still lead 3-2 and can wrap up the best-of-seven series in game six at Washington on Friday night.

 "I'm excited and the rest of the guys should be too," James added. "At the end of the day, we're up 3-2 and we have a chance to close them out again. As long as I'm on the court, I'm confident we have a great chance to win."

   DeShawn Stevenson scored 17 points for the Wizards, who overcame the loss of Gilbert Arenas. The All-Star guard announced before the game he was pulling the plug on the rest of the season because of a bothersome bone bruise on his surgically repaired left knee.

 "It was a tough decision," Arenas said. "We've done everything to get me to play, but I could barely walk to make the flight."

   Elsewhere: Boston Celtics 110, Atlanta Hawks 85. Boston's "Big Three" put the Celtics back in control. Paul Pierce scored 22 points, Kevin Garnett had 20 and Ray Allen added 19 as the Celtics routed the visiting Hawks for a 3-2 lead in the first round of their Eastern Conference series.

 After winning the first two games at home by an average of 21 points, the Celtics dropped both road contests to the young Hawks, making their first post-season appearance in nine years.

 However, back in front of their rabid fans, the top-seeded Celtics turned in a dominating performance in the most-lopsided victory of the series.

 "We did a better job on both ends," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "Our offensive execution was crisp and our defence was as sound as we've had in the last month. We did what we should and did it well."

   The Celtics return to Atlanta looking to close out the series in game six on Friday night.

 Joe Johnson, who had 35 points in game four, led Atlanta with 21. Josh Smith added 18 while Al Horford finished with 14 and 10 rebounds.

 "They came out and really got after us defensively," Hawks coach Mike Woodson said. "We were sloppy offensively tonight. It was a carbon copy of the first two games we played here.

 "We have to go home, regroup and get ready for game six."

   The Celtics built a 15 point halftime cushion that was sliced to 60-54 midway through the third quarter. However, they closed on a 21-10 burst, sparked Allen's three triples, opening up an 81-64 cushion en route to the wipeout.