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Raptors-Warriors Preview

Mar 12, 2010 - 8:40 PM By MATT BECKER STATS Senior Writer

Toronto (32-31) at Golden State (17-47), 10:30 p.m. EDT

The Toronto Raptors' offense is slumping and the losses are mounting.

Although Golden State is in the midst of an awful season, the Raptors need to regain their offensive swagger or they could have trouble keeping up with the high-scoring Warriors in their first meeting of the season.

The struggling Raptors look to avoid losing for the eighth time in nine games and earn their first win at Golden State in six years Saturday night.

Just three weeks ago, Toronto (32-31) was one of the hottest teams in the NBA. With a victory over Washington on Feb. 20, the Raptors won for the 10th time in 12 games and were closing in on fourth-place Atlanta in the Eastern Conference.

Hopes of home-court advantage for a first-round playoff series are now an afterthought, as Toronto is simply trying to make the postseason.

The Raptors have lost seven of eight and are now in the mix with Charlotte, Miami and Chicago for the final three playoffs spots. Toronto's coming off Wednesday's 113-90 loss at Sacramento, as Chris Bosh had 14 points and five rebounds in his third game after sitting out the previous seven because of a sprained left knee.

"We have to get back to winning games," guard Jose Calderon said. "The good thing about it is that we are still in the playoff loop. We have to try to get better and hopefully it's in our next game."

One of the biggest reasons for the Raptors' struggles has been some offensive shortcomings.

They've been held under 100 points four times in the last eight games after reaching the century mark in each of their previous 20. To have success, Toronto typically needs to hit triple digits, as its 5-13 when scoring fewer than 100 points.

Another subpar offensive performance could spell trouble for the Raptors with a game against a Warriors team that is 7-2 when its opponents fail to reach 100.

This will be Toronto's first game against Golden State since a 117-111 loss at Oracle Arena on Dec. 29, 2008. Bosh had 30 points and 14 rebounds as the Raptors lost their fifth straight in Oakland since an 84-81 overtime victory Feb. 8, 2004.

Golden State (17-47) averages 107.2 points, but this high-powered offense went flat down the stretch in Thursday's 110-105 loss to Portland.

The Warriors led the Trail Blazers 96-83 after three quarters, but scored just nine points in the final 12 minutes to lose their sixth straight. They made 3 of 14 shots (21.4 percent) and turned the ball over six times in the final period after shooting 53.0 percent and having nine turnovers through the first three quarters.

"We went cold at the wrong time, what can I tell you, coach Don Nelson said. "We ended having a team out there that hadn't been together very much and we didn't run our stuff very well against the zone. It was probably a combination of things."

Monta Ellis had 17 points before fouling out Thursday in his first game back after sitting out the previous six due to a strained lower back. His return took some of the scoring pressure off Stephen Curry.

The rookie Curry had 15 points against Portland after averaging 21.7 in his previous seven.