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The Cavaliers and Wizards met in the playoffs three-straight times from 2006-08, with two of the three series needing six games to be decided. Neither team liked the other and they let it be known. From Brendan Haywood’s flagrant foul on LeBron James, to DeShawn Stevenson calling James “overrated”, the matchup was always a well-fought and talked about battle. It was a rivalry.

Wednesday night inside Quicken Loans Arena that rivalry unofficially died, thanks to a rout by the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers led from start to finish in a 121-98 shellacking that featured points from 10 different Cleveland players. The Wizards played their first game without leading scorer Gilbert Arenas, who was suspended indefinitely earlier in the day by NBA Commissioner David Stern.

Without their three-time All-Star guard, who is averaging 22.6 points per game this season, the Wizards looked for increased scoring from several players, which was largely unsuccessful. Nick Young started in place of Arenas and went 5-18 from the floor. Young came into the contest averaging just 7.3 shot attempts per game. Andray Blatche took 14 shots, nearly twice his season average, and made just five.

The going is tough for the Wizards right now, but the Cavaliers (28-9) don’t seem too concerned. They are busy preparing for a championship run.

“We are not really worried about what other teams are going through or what they are doing,” said center Shaquille O’Neal after the game. “We just want to try and get better.”

O’Neal poured in 17 points, his highest output since early November, in limited action. He played just 17 minutes, partly due to early foul trouble, partly due to the fact that his team put away the Wizards fairly early.

By the time the two teams headed to their locker rooms for halftime the Cavaliers already held a 22-point advantage (65-43).

Offensively, they played one of their best first halves of the season. They shot 55 percent from the floor and scored 32 points in the paint in the the opening 24 minutes.

“We moved the ball, attacked (and) guys had open looks.,” said James. “We used it to our advantage.”

James led the Cavaliers with 23 points on 7-12 shooting. Although he didn’t have it going from the perimeter– he was just 2-8 from outside the paint– he made up for it by punishing the Wizards in the paint. Many times the visitors had no other option but to foul the physical specimen that is James, resulting in 11 foul shot attempts for the 25-year-old, of which he made eight.

“It was a bad defensive effort,” said Antawn Jamison, who led the Wizards with 26 points. “Weak side defense was terrible. We gave LeBron too many straight line drives to the basket.”

James sat out the entire fourth quarter as the Cavaliers went into the final period with a 21-point lead. Even with their superstar sitting on the bench, the Cavs still outscored the Wizards 20-18 over the final 12 minutes, a sign that the Arenas-less Wizards are miles behind the Central Division-leading Clevelanders.

“Right now, it’s just trying to find ways to win basketball games and, consistently put out a good product,” said Jamison. “I think some nights we play better than others. We have to be consistent.”

The Cavaliers played without key reserve Jamario Moon, who will be out for three weeks due to an abdominal strain. Playing in place of the injured forward was Jawad Williams. Williams saw his first extended minutes, 25 to be exact, of the season and made the most of his opportunity. In addition to playing solid defense on Caron Butler, who finished the game just 3-9 from the floor, Williams scored seven points and also dished out four assists.

“He’s been waiting for his opportunity and he’s worked hard every single day in practice waiting for his opportunity,’ said James. “With Jamario being out, he will be able to get some more reps with the first lineup and the second lineup because of his length and ability to defend.”

In all the Cavaliers scored 50 bench points, with Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Delonte West and Anderson Varejao all scoreing in double figures. West led the reserves with 14 points and has now played in 12-straight games after battling with personal problems early in the season.

Anthony Parker added a season-high 16 points for the Cavs. He scored eight points in the opening quarter, helping the home team jump on the Wizards early.

A win against the lowly Wizards may not mean much at this point, but the Cavaliers can’t help but be excited about the way they have been playing as of late.

“We are a very, very unselfish team,” said O’Neal. ”We are moving the ball, guys are shooting the ball well. Guys are taking the high-percentage shots and making the extra, extra pass.”