http://www.thestar.com/Sports/NBA/article/278512

The long bombs dropped like clockwork, every 30 seconds or so for most of two minutes. And by the time Dirk Nowitzki, the Dallas Mavericks forward, completed his short-program shooting exhibition, he’d hit four consecutive three-pointers in the final 1:39 of the third quarter of last night’s Raptors-Mavericks game.

With that outburst, the reigning NBA most valuable player turned a three-point Toronto lead into a seven-point Dallas advantage. And in doing so he drastically changed the course of a game that had begun with the Raptors holding the hot hand, the visitors making five of their 11 first-half three pointers to Dallas’s two of 10.

If the visitors’ 105-99 loss seemed like déjà vu, perhaps it’s because something awfully similar had happened before. Two seasons ago, the Raptors came here, built a 24-point cushion and ultimately fell in overtime, 115-113, the biggest blown lead in franchise history. Last night, after leading by 24 points in the second quarter, they couldn’t recover from the Nowitzki-led onslaught.