The Washington Wizards are down 0-2 in their first-round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers. That is the bad news for Eddie Jordan’s bunch. The good news is that the series is shifting back to Washington for the next two games, the first of which will be played at the Verizon Center tonight.

Washington needs to do a few things to get back in the win column. Firstly they have to play more under control, and play with more composure. The Wizards have lost their cool in each of the first couple games, which have both been physical enough to warrant double-technicals. (In game two Brendan Haywood was ejected for a hard foul on Lebron James).

Another thing I do if I’m the Wizards is force the ball out of Lebron James’ hands. They haven’t been able to do that with any sort of consistency and the result of that has been a couple of 30-ish point games in wins. The problem with James keeping the ball in his hand is that he drives to the rim at will, and there is not a player in basketball who gets more calls that James on his way to the hoop.

James gets calls. That is not breaking news. In addition to that though, he is money around the bucket. If he is going to shoot, Washington needs to do what they can to make him fire from the perimeter, where he is just an average performer. Inside the paint, and around the cup, he becomes one of the game’s best. But at the three-point line he is pedestrian.

The last thing the Wizards need to do is play Gilbert Arenas more. Yeah, I know, the guys on TNT are blaming him for the fact that the Wizards are down two-games to none. But they are wrong. The Wizards are down in this series because of a multitude of reasons, none of which have to do with Arenas’ presence. If memory serves Arenas brought Washington back from two large deficits by putting on a couple of shooting displays in game-one.

Arenas may not be 100%, but 75% of Arenas is the best player on the Wizards. Caron Butler is super-talented, but he — like DeShawn Stevenson — has struggled with his shooting touch in this series. Butler, and to a greater extent Stevenson, had better find his shot tonight. Stevenson was off like a broken lamp in Cleveland, while Butler was just inconsistent.

If the Wizards can make a few of these adjustments, I think they beat Cleveland tonight and pull to within a game of the Cavaliers entering game-four.