The Cavaliers were due at the AT&T Center on Friday night, and, the way Mason saw it, so was LeBron.

"Great offensive players are like that," Mason said. "If they have a tough night, they're looking forward to that next game."

As the NBA's second-leading scorer, James would certainly fall under the heading of "great offensive player." And, apparently, he was looking forward to redemption in the Lone Star State.

James produced 30 points and 14 rebounds in three quarters, leading the Cavaliers to a 97-86 victory and reminding the Spurs that life without Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili isn't all candy canes and roses.

The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Spurs, and the last two victories came with Duncan and Ginobili sidelined. Friday, the Spurs (39-18) learned what should be obvious: It's difficult to beat an elite team with two stars dressed in blazers.

A night earlier, James went 7 for 21 in a loss to the Rockets and went without an assist for the first time in his career.

He wasted little time shaking off that performance Friday. James had 15 points in the first quarter as the Cavaliers built a 27-13 lead. In Houston, Cleveland managed just 11 points in the first quarter, total.

"That's the beauty of the NBA," James said. "You can play as bad as you have ever played one night, and the NBA schedule allows for you to make up for it the next night."

James basically put a 48-minute game out of reach in a 184-second span.

The decisive stretch came in the first quarter, when three Spurs turnovers in the middle of the quarter led to a James highlight reel.

His first big play came on a thunderous breakaway dunk, with Tony Parker scurrying for cover. Moments later, he grabbed a Parker pass and was fouled on the breakaway by Bruce Bowen. Two James foul shots and a Delonte West jumper made it a four-point possession for Cleveland (45-12).

Moments after that, James was off to the races again after a Parker turnover, drawing a foul on Matt Bonner for a 3-point play. That flurry put Cleveland ahead 25-10.

The Spurs fought back in the second quarter and closed within 45-38 at the half.

"We started out with a poor first quarter," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "After that, we dug ourselves out of it.

"Then, LeBron took it away again."

It took James all of 71 seconds in the third quarter to do it.

He buried one 3-pointer, then another, then another. Three in a row to push Cleveland ahead by 15 midway through the frame.

Parker, who totalled 76 points in back-to-back wins over Dallas and Portland with Duncan and Ginobili out, couldn't produce a three-peat. It was probably too much to ask, just as it may have been too much to ask the Spurs to sweep this homestand with two stars out.

With Mo Williams guarding him instead of Jason Kidd and Steve Blake, Parker found the going tougher. He had 11 points and shot 3 of 16 from the field.

Before the game, Duncan had lobbied Popovich to play, but to no avail. Parker lobbied on Duncan's behalf.

"I wanted Timmy to play," Parker said. "I was worried everybody would run out of gas. The last two games we spent so much energy. I was scared we didn't have enough in the tank. It showed tonight."

By game's end, the only reason for Spurs fans to stick around was to witness the coming-out party of Pops Mensah-Bonsu. Minutes into what would become his first meaningful stint with the Spurs, the ballyhooed NBDL callup dunked over Zydrunas Ilgauskas for his first Spurs points and drew a foul.

Mensah-Bonsu finished with 11 points, including another dunk, in 12 minutes. Malik Hairston, the rookie swingman, added 11.

Later, Popovich would call the game-ending outburst from his young bench players the best part of the night.