Shaquille O'Neal notched 21 points in Tuesday's win over Washington. David Liam Kyle NBAE/Getty Images

The Wizards ran out to an 18-point edge in the first half, but the Cavaliers simply kept pounding away, and by the midway point of the fourth quarter, the Wine and Gold’s playoff nemesis were struggling just to keep it respectable.

Cleveland shot just 33 percent in the first quarter, but used a 33-point second period to draw to within four, 54-50, at intermission. With just under eight minutes left in the third, Anderson Varejao’s layup put the Wine and Gold ahead, 59-58. The Cavaliers didn’t trail again the rest of the night – running their lead to as many as 16 in the fourth.

“We have to force our will upon people on (the defensive) end of the floor for as close to 48 minutes as possible, and we’re not doing that all the time,” said Mike Brown. “In the second half, we were the aggressors and I thought we stepped it up a notch.”

LeBron James led everyone with 27 points, going 7-for-16 from the floor to go with eight boards, six helpers and a game-high three steals.

Shaquille O’Neal followed up with 21 points in easily his best game with the Wine and Gold. O’Neal was 7-for-9 from the field and 7-for-10 from the line, adding eight boards and even tallying three assists.

“I have been known as one of the best passing centers in the history of the game,” demurred the Diesel. “A couples times I could have taken the shot, but I am looking to get my guys involved. I’ve got to make sure they are comfortable first, because I’m going to get mine.”

Shaq was credited with one block, but in the fourth quarter he got every bit of a Mike Miller offering and was called for a foul. And midway through the first period, Shaq hammered Washington’s DeShawn Stevenson on a layup attempt in the paint. O’Neal was whistled for the foul, but the message was clear: There will be no easy buckets in the interior of Cleveland’s defense.

The victory is the Cavaliers’ third straight after dropping their first two games of the season. Cleveland was out-rebounded and Washington took 14 more free throws, but the Cavs also committed half as many turnovers (14 to 7) and twice as many assists (25 to 12).

Mo Williams stayed hot – netting eight of his 15 points in the fourth quarter and going 3-for-4 from beyond the arc. Williams’ backup, Daniel Gibson, also continued to shoot the ball well – going 4-for-5 from long-distance for 14 points in 26 productive minutes off the bench.

Anderson Varejao rounded out the Cavaliers in double-figures, notching his second double-double in three games with 10 points and 10 boards.

The Cavaliers will practice Wednesday before closing the week with a back-to-back, at home against Chicago and off to the Big Apple for a Friday night affair at the Garden.

2. Whether they’re called the Baltimore Bullets, Capital Bullets, Washington Bullets or Washington Wizards, there is no franchise that the Cavaliers have beaten on more. On Tuesday night, the Cavaliers won for the 102nd time. The next on the list is Hawks, who Cleveland has beaten on 94 occasions.

3. With the win, the Cavaliers upped their home record to 2-1. Cleveland has now won 41 of their last 44 games at The Q. They’ve also topped the Wizards six straight times on the corner of Huron and Ontario.

4. LeBron is the leading active scorer in the month of November at 26.7 ppg in 89 games. November’s next best is Allen Iverson at 26.4.

5. Thus far, Mo Williams has been the indicator to the Cavaliers’ success. In Cleveland’s three wins, he’s averaging 19.7 ppg, shooting 48 percent from the floor and a scorching .688 from long-distance. In losses, he’s averaging 14.0 ppg on .318 shooting, .286 from three-point range.

6. Before Tuesday, Caron Butler has been two different players against the Cavaliers – at home and the road. In the last four games at home, Tough Juice has averaged 22.5 ppg on .473 shooting against Cleveland. In the last four games in Cleveland, he’s averaging 12.0 ppg on .320 shooting.

7. The last time the Cavaliers were down by 18 and won by at least 10 points was on January 15, 2005 when they topped the Utah Jazz, 84-71.

8. Following tonight, Zydrunas Ilgauskas (712 games played, 667 starts) is now only eight games away from tying Bingo Smith for second place on the franchise’s all-time games-played list. Cavs GM Danny Ferry tops the list at 723.

9. Most people know that Flip Saunders was a star point guard at Cuyahoga Heights High School and later at the University of Minnesota. But do they also know that Saunders roommate was Tony Dungy?

10. Daniel Gibson scored eight of his 14 points in the second quarter on Tuesday. Boobie has notched double-figures in three of the Cavaliers’ first five ballgames.