But for one night it was like the olden days of power and strength and speed and domination, and the Raptors bore the brunt of it.

O'Neal, with two of his more glittering teammates on the sidelines with injuries, bullied himself into the minds and bodies of the Raptors, serving up a not-so-gentle reminder of how powerful he is in a 45-point gem that led Phoenix to a 133-113 victory over Toronto last night.

"We had no physical answer for him," said Raptors coach Jay Triano.

Truer words have seldom been spoken.

The Raptors were simply incapable of stopping O'Neal from getting prime position in the paint and he made them pay almost every time, hitting 20-of-25 field goals before leaving to a thunderous ovation with less than two minutes to go in the game.

O'Neal had forced Toronto's Andrea Bargnani to foul out trying to guard him, Jake Voskuhl lasted less than eight minutes before picking up six fouls and Chris Bosh only finished with five because he got his fifth early in the fourth quarter and had a few minutes off.

"I think I'm the only player who looks at each and any centre and thinks that's barbecued chicken down there," said O'Neal.

And last night, the veteran ate like a king.

"It seems like he's healthy for the first time in a couple of years, he's been a little bit banged up," said Voskuhl. "I don't know what his weight is but whatever it is on the media guide (325 pounds), add 30 or 40 pounds to that. He's playing really good right now.

"Any time you play him, it's going to be a physical game. You just know you have to strap it up and you have to try to match the intensity. The one thing with Shaq is you can't back down, you can't get out of the way. If he's going to get the layup, I think you've just got to hit him."

But sometimes, O'Neal is good, strong and too quick to be hit, like he proved last night.

Catching the ball within dunking distance of the basket makes O'Neal virtually impossible to stop. He just collects the ball and in one fell swoop knocks away whatever opponent is pestering him and deposits the ball in the basket.

"I'm here and I'm ready to go," said O'Neal. "If could get those opportunities, I could do that every night despite being 36."

Strangely, despite O'Neal's dominance, the Raptors were in the game for three quarters, trailing by only four with 12 minutes left.

But a crucial fifth foul on Bosh just 15 seconds into the final quarter forced him to sit down and the momentum shifted.

"We were right there," said Shawn Marion, who led Toronto with 27 points.

"I don't know what happened. It's frustrating because I think the fight in us just went out the window."

Bargnani, who had 21 points, and Bosh, who had 19, were both effective for stretches offensively but they couldn't get O'Neal far enough away from the basket often enough to utilize their advantage in quickness.

And if they had, Triano wondered what might have happened.

"I don't think there were going to be many calls made against him tonight no matter what," said the Raptors coach. "He just seemed to have his way inside, throw our guys out of the way and get position. Two guys miss a call when Jose (Calderon) gets hit in the head, (by O'Neal in the fourth quarter); the guy not in the play has to make the call, I don't know.

"They were going to keep him on the floor as much as they could."