TORONTO – Sitting at his locker while toweling off the water that couldn't rinse away the stench from one of the Mavericks' worst games of the season, Dirk Nowitzki reached for his toiletry bag and banged his elbow hard on a protruding part of his locker stall.

It was about the only thing any Maverick hit all night Wednesday.

Pitiful shooting ensured that the Mavericks' trip north of the border would end in failure as they fell behind big early and took a 92-76 drop-kicking by the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre.

As clunkers go, this was a team effort. And it extended the Mavericks' inability to create any identity this season, other than the fact that they are an inconsistent group at both ends of the court.

"The offense wasn't clicking today," Josh Howard said. "We just couldn't buy a basket. It was that simple."

One night, it's offense. Against Denver last week, it was defense. Rare is the night when play at both ends of the floor by the Mavericks is acceptable. Against Toronto – a team on the second night of a back-to-back – it was the Mavericks who were lifeless.

For the last few days, Avery Johnson has been evaluating the Mavericks as they got past the first quarter of the season. He said he came to one conclusion: "You haven't seen the real Mavericks yet."

They certainly were nowhere to be found Wednesday. At least, the Mavericks better hope this was a faux version.

They shot 38.5 percent from the field and just 60 percent from the free throw line. They gave up 33 points in the second quarter to fall behind by 18. They closed to within nine late in the third quarter, then surrendered the last seven points to the Raptors in less than a minute.

"We weren't good all night," said Nowitzki, who had 11 points, six rebounds and five assists in the first half, but only two points and three rebounds after halftime.

"We couldn't make shots. We shot 38 percent on the road. It's tough to win a game. Plus, defensively we weren't sharp. We were down 20 early, and then we had to fight back all game. They deserved to win."

Last month, the Raptors built a 24-point lead on Dallas, which stormed back to win, 105-99. The Mavs also erased a 24-point lead two seasons ago against Toronto.

This time, they lacked enough punch to even come close.

"We've shown before we can come back on them," said Jerry Stackhouse, who was 1-of-8 from the field. "They do let you back in the game, but we weren't able to capitalize on it.

AP

Dallas Mavericks F Dirk Nowitzki (right) loses the ball.

"They were coming off a back-to-back, and we were sitting here waiting for them. We should have had more energy than we came out with. But it's one of those nights in the NBA. We just didn't have it."

Asked about the offensive woes, he added: "You can't live by the jump shots. We're a veteran team. We should know that. We got to find a way to still score points, and we didn't. It resulted in a loss for us."

The Mavericks had won eight in a row against Toronto, and it wasn't just the offense that ended that streak. In the second quarter, the Raptors made 63 percent of their shots and outrebounded the Mavericks, 12-7.

"There are going to be nights when you got to be good defensively if you want to win," Nowitzki said. "I mean, scoring 76 points against a team that's really not known to be defensive minded, it's tough to win."

The Mavericks played without Devin Harris, who was back at the hotel with a stomach ailment. But the Raptors were without T.J. Ford, who suffered a head and neck injury Tuesday night in Atlanta, so the point guards for both teams were absent.

"We haven't played our best basketball yet," Johnson said. "But this really is a good time of the year not to be playing your best basketball."