Toronto Raptors vs Dallas Mavericks Dec.17/08

The Toronto Raptors had just coughed up another double-digit lead and dropped their third straight game at home, and Chris Bosh was looking forward to high-tailing it out of town. The Dallas Mavericks beat Toronto 96-86 on Wednesday, and just a couple of games after Toronto cheered Bosh with chants of "M-V-P," they booed the Raptors and their team captain for their sagging performance. The Raptors open a six-game road trip Friday, and Bosh admitted he'll breathe easier once they're gone. "Shoot, if I want to get booed, I'll go on the road," Bosh said. "It's really tense here right now. When you're down three points at home and you're getting booed, that's kind of disheartening. Whether the crowd knows it or not, they play a big part in the game." Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry scored 27 points apiece to top Dallas (14-10), while Josh Howard, in his second game back after missing 11 with a sprained ankle, added 20 points. Jermaine O'Neal had 19 points to lead the Raptors (10-15), who were outrebounded for the 14th game in a row. Jamario Moon finished with 13 points and nine rebounds, while Bosh had 12 points and nine boards, and Jose Calderon finished with 11 points and 10 assists. The night started out fine for the Raptors, who raced out to a 13-point lead in the first quarter. But reminiscent of Monday's 94-87 loss to New Jersey, their game went downhill from there, and by the time Nowitzki drained a three-pointer to put the Mavs up 67-59 late in the third quarter, the disgruntled Air Canada Centre crowd loudly booed the Raptors. Afterward, Raptors coach Jay Triano could do little but shake his head about his team's meltdown. "Honestly, if I knew I'd change it," Triano said. "I coached the same the first quarter as I did the last three when we were a disaster. I think we run a lot better, we have a lot better energy early in the game. I don't know if we just run out of gas, or we just don't create flow, or if we don't make the right adjustments..." Dallas led 69-63 with one quarter left. The Raptors managed to cut the Mavericks' lead to two points on a basket by Bosh two-and-a-half minutes into the fourth, but Dallas controlled the game the rest of the way, stretching its lead to 13 points on a three-pointer by Terry with 1:26 left to play. Baskets by Calderon and Jason Kapono made the score more respectable, but the game was already well out of reach. "Are we not in good enough shape to play 48 minutes?" Triano said. "I hope that's not the case this late in the season, but maybe it's not a conditioning factor but it's that they get worn down. The last three games, we started off extremely well, scoring and running and we've got great flow, and then all of a sudden it just stops." Some of the Mavericks players said they could sense Toronto's lack of confidence, and they capitalized. "If any team sees guys hanging their heads, that kind of gives the other team a little more momentum," said Dallas forward Devean George. "When you saw guys going 'Not again' that kind of feeds into the other team. We all kind of sensed that. They were really frustrated with things weren't going right and we started making a run." It was the final home game for Toronto until the team hosts Denver on New Year's Eve. The Raptors were outrebounded 47-37 on the night, the 20th time in the past 24 games they've been beaten on the boards. They shot 43 per cent, while allowing the Mavericks to shoot 50 per cent. Bosh, whose numbers have been on the decline since an impressive start to the season, shot just 6-for-20 from the field. The all-star forward averaged 26.8 points in October and November, but that's dropped off to 18.9 in December, while his rebounding has gone from 10.2 to 8.9 a night. "I missed some shots that I normally make," Bosh said. "I can't sit there and mope about it, I just have to keep playing, keep playing defence. My defence is better, let's talk about that." He couldn't buy a basket Wednesday, at one point in the third quarter missing on what normally would be a routine dunk. His next shot spun around the rim and dropped out. He uncharacteristically missed on two free throws late in the game, eliciting more boos from the crowd. The all-star forward was asked if he feels the team's cursed. "That's how it goes sometimes," Bosh said. "I think everybody hits a rough patch, unfortunately for us, we're in the middle of it right now. The only way you get out of it is to come out the next game and try to get the next one, don't dwell on anything, don't think about it, just go out there and play, and whatever happens play as hard as you can. "If you play as hard as you can, you can sleep at night, you can live with yourself." The Raptors did everything right in the first quarter, shooting 67 per cent, outrebounding the Mavs and forcing five Dallas turnovers. Toronto took a 13-point lead on a jump shot by Graham with three minutes left in the period and held on to lead 33-21 going into the second.