WASHINGTON – The one-two-three punch of Gilbert Arenas, Larry Hughes and Antawn Jamison was too much for the one-man show named LeBron James.

The result was a 119-111 victory for the Washington Wizards on Friday night that further imperiled the Cleveland Cavaliers’ playoff hopes.

Arenas made 12 of 16 shots, scored 33 points and had nine assists, Hughes scored 16 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter and had five steals, and Jamison had 21 points as the Wizards shot 59 percent and won their third straight in their bid for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.

Washington is jostling with Indiana and Chicago for seeds four, five and six in the Eastern Conference.

James played all 48 minutes and scored 38 points as the Cavaliers, who are clinging to the East’s eighth and final playoff position, lost for the fifth time in seven games and had their lead over ninth-place New Jersey cut to one game. The Nets beat Toronto 101-90.

James made 16 of 33 shots and had six rebounds and six assists, but Robert Traylor was a distant second in the Cleveland box score with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Drew Gooden – who played much of the game with a hip injury – scored 13 points on 4-for-16 shooting. The Cavaliers have lost 15 of 17 on the road.

Cleveland’s only lead in the game was 2-0, although the Cavaliers tied the game late in the third quarter before wilting when the Wizards opened the fourth with a 17-9 run. Hughes was the catalyst, scoring a fast-break three-point play after a steal and a 3-pointer in the spurt that put Washington ahead 102-92 with 5:29 to play.

The game was marred by four technical fouls, and the Wizards played the final period coached by assistant Mike O’Koren.

Head coach Eddie Jordan, irate over a sequence of two no-calls sandwiched around a foul called against Kwame Brown while James was driving, came onto the court and was given two technicals and an automatic ejection with 2:14 to play in the third quarter. His departure inspired his players – and the fans chanted “Ed-die!” – but the Cavaliers stayed close and trailed by two heading into the fourth.

James scored the Cavaliers’ first eight points of the game, but that wasn’t enough to keep pace with five different Wizards scorers as Washington ran its fast break effectively to take a 17-8 lead. The Wizards shot 64 percent in the first quarter and led 30-23 going into the second.

James had a frustrating sequence in the second quarter. He was called for 3 seconds in the lane on defense, got whistled for double dribbling, and then missed an open layup – all in less than one minute. The Cavaliers trailed by 10 when he got on another roll, turning a reverse layup into a three-point play and converting a steal into an emphatic two-handed dunk. James’ tally was 20 points at the half, but Cleveland trailed 56-51.

Notes: The victory gave Washington a 2-1 victory in the season series, which serves as the first tiebreaker if the teams finish with the same record. … Washington’s Brown got a technical in the first quarter for getting upset over a foul called during his block of a reverse layup by James. … Cleveland’s Sasha Pavlovic received a technical for a pithy remark to an official in the second quarter. … Cavaliers center Zydrunas Ilgauskas fouled out with 6:47 to play. He scored eight points and grabbed just one rebound. … Gooden hurt his hip in the second quarter. He played in the third quarter and was going to sit out the final minutes of the fourth, but he returned after Ilgauskas fouled out. … With the game taking place on April 15, the Wizards allowed postal service employees to set up locations throughout the MCI Center concourse. All tax return envelopes turned in by fans were marked “received by April 15, 2005.” … The Wizards were on national television for the second time this week, after making just one prior appearance all season.

AP-ES-04-15-05 2251EDT