This time, for perhaps the only time, Bonner won.

The Spurs center slapped away O'Neal's dunk attempt, then reacted with the exact opposite of the Dikembe Mutombo finger wag.

"I just tried not to make eye contact, basically," Bonner said.

Asked again and again about the play after the game, Bonner did everything but blame the block on Tim Duncan. Bonner has his reasons for his humility.

"We have to play those guys again," Bonner said. "I don't want to give him any reason to come after me."

These are all signs it is still the preseason. Bonner swats O'Neal. Replacement officials call a zillion fouls resulting in a billion free throws (or, Friday night, 61 fouls for 78 foul shots). And Gregg Popovich takes the night off from the bench, leaving a trio of assistants to sweat the whistle-happy referee crew.

Lead assistant Mike Budenholzer coached the Spurs to a 47-40 lead at half. Brett Brown took the reigns in the third, and increased the Spurs' lead to 10.

That left Don Newman to close down the game in the fourth.

"They were calling him Mariano Rivera back there," Budenholzer said.

Of course, Newman was at somewhat of a disadvantage. He didn't have Duncan and Tony Parker in his arsenal, which is sort of like sending in Rivera without his fastball and splitter.

On a night when Manu Ginobili and Richard Jefferson also sat, Duncan and Parker took over early. Parker had 22 points and seven assists in 25 minutes, and did not play in the fourth.

Duncan enjoyed his finest night of the preseason, going for 13 points and nine rebounds in a shade less than 20 minutes. He did not play after halftime.

Instead, Newman had to hold on with a lineup lifted out of the Las Vegas summer league - George Hill, Malik Hairston, Marcus Williams, Ian Mahinmi and DeJuan Blair.

The Spurs also had to hold on through a litany of meaningless timeouts and purposeful fouls in the final 11 seconds, as Cavs assistant Michael Malone - who replaced head coach Mike Brown at half - attempted to extend the game.

"I thought we played well, considering it's preseason and guys are not fully at 100 percent, and we're still playing a lot of guys," Spurs forward Antonio McDyess said. "Overall, we played well with the guys we put out there."

Cleveland's LeBron James, the reigning league MVP, looked both in midseason form and in pre-flu form. James, who battled a bout of what might have been the H1N1 virus earlier this week, had 22 points in less than 20 minutes - including eight straight to end the second quarter.

After the game, James said he "still felt fatigued." The Spurs weren't buying it.

"He looked well to me," Budenholzer said.

So did O'Neal, the Cavs' keystone summertime acquisition. He had eight points and 12 rebounds, and made 3 of his last 5 shots after starting 0 for 6.

Bonner, of course, had a hand in Shaq's slow start. Not that he'll cop to it today.

"I'd call it the luckiest play of my career," Bonner said of his block. "I was behind him. He didn't see me. It was all luck."

Then Bonner shrugged, perhaps with visions of a March 8 rematch dancing in his head.

"Seriously," he said. "I'm trying to take as little credit as possible."