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Final Score: Cleveland 72 - Washington 108

Washington, DC (Sports Network) - DeShawn Stevenson hit five three-pointers and led a balanced Washington attack with 19 points, as the Wizards blew out Cleveland, 108-72, for a much-needed Game 3 win in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

After losing Game 2, 116-86, on Monday, the Wizards came out with a vengeance Thursday at the Verizon Center, limiting the supporting cast of LeBron James and posted their largest margin of victory in a playoff game.

"When our back is up against the wall, we always find a way to get it done," Washington's Antawn Jamison said. "It starts from your head coach down to your captains. We never keep our head down. We never sulk or think it's over with. We just fight and continue to play to the end."

Roger Mason tallied 18 points, Caron Butler 17, Jamison 15 and Brendan Haywood 14 for the Wizards, who shot 52.1 percent from the field while holding the Cavs to 39.7 percent.

"Tonight we obviously were doing a great job of trapping LeBron, getting into the passing lanes and letting the defense dictate our offense," Butler said. "Once we got stops we were doing a job converting in the transition game. We really fed off that."

James had 22 points, but Devin Brown was the only other Cleveland player in double figures with 10 points. It was the largest margin of defeat in Cavs postseason history and snapped an eight-game postseason victory streak over the Wizards.

"They were the aggressors," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "I thought the first two games we were aggressive. Tonight they came out with the right mind-set. By halftime they outscored us 30-12 in the paint."

Game 4 is Sunday at the Verizon Center.

The Wizards worked off the emotion of having Gilbert Arenas in the starting lineup, even though he was limited to just two points in 10 minutes of court time and could be out more time in this series.

"Collectively as a group we had to play better than what we did the first two games," Jamison said. "Gilbert started tonight. It's been a while since we've seen that. When we found out he wasn't coming back in the second half, that's when the mind-frame changes. That's when I have to be aggressive offensively. Defensively I had to do a better job communicating."

The Wizards used 11 straight points to grab a 21-12 lead with Antonio Daniels capping the burst with a three-point play. The Cavs then scored five in a row to end the period, but were no match for the Wizards in the second.

A slam by Butler and a jumper from him moved the lead to 34-22 and Butler's running bank shot extended the margin to 47-29 inside of two minutes left in the half. It was 49-33 at the break.

Stevenson hit two straight shots from beyond the arc for a 66-40 margin midway through the third, and the defining moment of the night came nearly three minutes later when Butler stripped James on his way up for a shot and broke the other way for a jam and a 72-43 difference with 3:23 remaining.

The spread was 77-51 going into the fourth and the Wizards coasted the rest of the way, hitting a total of 8-of-19 shots from three-point range for the night.

One major concern was the status of Arenas, who started in a game for the first time since November after undergoing knee surgery. He was diagnosed with a bone bruise on Thursday.