TORONTO -- The Toronto Raptors' feel-good story lost a little of its lustre Friday night, courtesy of the Dallas Mavericks.
Kyle Lowry scored 25 points to top the Raptors in a 106-102 loss to Dallas -- just their second loss this season at the Air Canada Centre.
Amir Johnson had 20 points, while Lou Williams had 16 and Greivis Vasquez chipped in with 14 for the Raptors, who also saw their six-game win streak also came to an end.
Patrick Patterson had 10 points, while Jonas Valanciunas grabbed 13 boards on a night the Raptors (13-3) lost DeMar DeRozan to a left groin strain.
In the battle between the league's two highest-scoring teams, Monta Ellis topped Dallas (12-5) with 30 points, while Chandler Parsons finished with 16 .
DeRozan left the game with 8:23 to go in the third quarter after laying on the court for several minutes surrounded by training staff and teammates before he got up to walk gingerly, helped by team staff, to the dressing room. He had missed all eight of his shots for zero points in the game.
The Raptors, wearing their retro purple jerseys, trailed the Mavericks for most of the night and were behind by as many as 15 points in the third quarter. Toronto went into the fourth trailing 71-64.
Back-to-back three-point shots by Johnson and Vasquez, then a jumper by Johnson cut the Mavericks' lead to four points with five minutes to play, infusing some energy into the Air Canada Centre crowd. But Ellis responded with seven straight points in less than 90 seconds and just like that, the Mavericks were back up by 11. Ellis dropped another three to put Dallas up by 14, sending many fans for the exits.
The Raptors fought back with a 7-0 run, capped by a Vasquez three with 1:01 to play, that pulled the home team within six. Lowry was at his fourth-quarter best, scoring 11 straight points to make it a two-point game with nine seconds to play, but Devin Harris drained two free throws to clinch the victory for Dallas.
Turnovers proved costly for the Raptors, who gave up 22 points on 17 giveaways. Dallas protected the ball well, giving up just four points on eight turnovers.
The Raptors honoured Jalen Rose with a video tribute during a first-quarter timeout -- part of the franchise's 20th anniversary celebrations. The former guard, who played parts of three seasons with Toronto from 2003 to '06, received a standing ovation when he stood and waved to the crowd.
ESPN, in its playoff predictions, had pegged the Raptors' chances this week of winning the NBA championship at a whopping 41 per cent. Coach Dwane Casey scoffed at the predictions when asked about them pre-game.
"They can take that and the paper they write on itàbecause it's a long season," Casey said. "I've been around this too long, around a lot of good teams in the pros and college.
"The beginning of the season you kind of set the tone for the way you're going to live the rest of the way. By no means does it designate or determine where you're going to be in the end. We just want to keep going, keep improving."
The Raptors now head west for three games. They face the Lakers in Los Angeles on Sunday, the Kings in Sacramento on Tuesday, then wrap up against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.
The Raptors, who were coming off a 126-115 victory at Atlanta on Wednesday, raced out to a quick 10-0 lead. But they couldn't maintain any momentum as the Mavericks used a 20-5 run to go up by five points. The visitors led 26-21 heading into the second quarter.
The Mavericks led by 14 points on a basket by Tyson Chandler with 3:46 to go in the second. The Raptors chipped away over the final minutes, pulling to within 48-43 at the halftime break.
The Mavs took back control in the third, going up by 15 points on a three by Ellis with 3:11 left in the quarter. Once again, Toronto pushed back, as a pair of free throws from Williams cut the Mavericks' lead to five points before a pull-up jumper by Nowitzki sent Dallas into the fourth up by seven.
Notes: Casey was part of the coaching staff of the Dallas team that won the 2011 NBA championship. . . The Raptors haven't won seven in a row since a nine-game run in the spring of 2002. . . Toronto won both its meetings with the Mavs last season, overcoming at least 18-point deficits in both.
