CLEVELAND -- If the Washington Wizards see the Cleveland Cavaliers in the playoffs, they'll remember what happened Saturday night.

John Wall erupted for 37 points and his Wizards ran the defending NBA champions off the floor 127-115.

“You don't want to go into the playoffs knowing you have to face those guys and you never won against them in the regular season," Wall said. "To come here and win in a tough place, it's definitely a boost."

The Cavs had beaten the Wizards twice in Washington this season, including in a 140-135 overtime thriller on Feb. 6.

Wall said it was in that game, even though the Wizards lost, "we proved that point the last time we played them." In other words, he said it was then the Wizards showed they belonged on the court with LeBron James and Co.

Now they're feeling good about themselves in a possible playoffs series, which could come sooner than one might think.

With the win, the Wizards trail Cleveland by 2 1/2 games for first place in the East. Between the Wizards and Cavs is Boston, now just a half-game behind the Cavs. If the Celtics overtake the Cavs, then Cleveland and Washington could have a real chance of playing in the conference semifinals.

"They know we are a good team," Wall said. "We just try to go out there and compete. They have a tough team that you have to match up for. Tonight, when we got in a rhythm, moving the ball and playing team defense, we are a tough team to compete against."

Wall scored 18 points in the first quarter on 8-of-8 shooting from the field. Cleveland never recovered.

Bradley Beal added 27 points for the Wizards, who are 19-7 when all five starters score in double figures.

LeBron James shook off an eye injury from Friday night to total 24 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. He needed seven assists to pass Maurice Cheeks (7,392) for 12th place in NBA history, which he reached with his first assist in the fourth quarter. He also now has a career-high 37 double-doubles.

James briefly wore protective eye glasses to cover the scratched cornea he suffered on his right eye but tossed them toward the bench with 3:37 left in the first quarter.

"I haven't been in too much light the last 24 hours, I mean all day since I got home last night and today I stayed away from it because it was bothering me a little bit too much," James said. "But I kind of warmed up to it, so that’s a good sign."

Kyrie Irving added 23 points and has now scored at least 20 in 21 consecutive games. Kevin Love contributed 17 points and seven rebounds.

The Wizards led by as many as 17 in the first half but saw their lead cut to 96-91 after three quarters.

Cleveland’s defense remains an atrocity, especially for a team trying to get back to the Finals. The Wizards were 18 of 22 from the field in the first quarter and shot 60 percent for the game.

The Cavs, ranked in the bottom third in the league in defensive efficiency, have 10 games remaining to sort this out before the playoffs start.

"We just got to figure it out and continue to see what fits our group, see what fits our lineup, see what fits our team as a whole and what's going to give us the best shot to win each and every game and like I said, you can't base last year on this year," James said.

"This year is different. Every year is different, so I think our coaching staff will figure that out for us."

NOTES: Cavs G Iman Shumpert missed the game with right knee soreness, which the team said developed after its afternoon walk-through. Shumpert had come off the bench the previous two games with the re-emergence of J.R. Smith as their starting shooting guard. ... Wizards G/F Bojan Bogdanovic sat out with lower back stiffness. He scored 17 points in 26 minutes against Brooklyn on Friday. ... The Wizards started a five-game road trip that takes them to Los Angeles and finishes at Golden State. ... The 40 points the Cavs allowed in the first quarter were the most they've give up in any first quarter this season.