SAN FRANCISCO - Mere minutes into the game, you could sense that Tuesday night would be a memorable one for the Raptors. It had been nearly a decade since the franchise had tasted victory in the Bay Area, as Toronto seemed poised to shock the hosting Golden State Warriors and the rest of the NBA, who began to take notice of what was transpiring in Oakland. "The @Raptors lead the @Warriors by 27 early in the 3rdQ in Golden State #NotATypo," tweeted the leagues official account. If you tuned in at that point, an impartial viewer expecting to see something remarkable, you were not disappointed. This Raptors team was on the verge of an improbable and much-needed win, instead an epic collapse secured its place in franchise history. It turned out to be a night they wont soon forget. "Weve just got to get a win," Rudy Gay said after the Raptors suffered the largest collapse in their 19-year existence, falling 112-103 to the Warriors. "However, whenever, we just need a win. It should have been tonight. Now we have to go out and find another one." "We made it tough on ourselves tonight. We just need a win, man." Like watching in slow motion, it seemed inevitable once the Warriors began to make their run late in the third. It started with consecutive turnovers (one by Gay the second by Terrence Ross) and turned into a series of open looks for the dynamic, sharpshooting backcourt duo of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. Fortunately for the Raptors, who took an 18-point lead into the fourth, the Warriors guards missed two of three wide-open threes to end the frame. At that point Curry and Thompson were 3-of-12 from long distance and the Raptors had been closing out on most, if not all of their attempts. With 14 minutes remaining the visiting Raptors started to play with fire and against this team, in that arena, it wasnt a huge surprise when they got burned. "They just started making [shots]," Dwane Casey said of the Warriors, who went 8-of-11 from three-point range and outscored Toronto 42-15 overall in the fourth quarter. "They were the same shots and we were right there. A couple of plays guys were draped all over them." "But we knew that going in. We knew they would be lethal, that they were going to be hard to stop." The Warriors run was expected, the crowd - largely credited as the best in the league - came to life and the Raptors had nowhere to hide, though they sure tried. In those 12 minutes of basketball, the Raptors played scared. They looked like a team that was unsure of themselves, of every pass, of every shot, a team that was playing not to lose. "The thing about it is when they get the momentum then the rim gets wider," said Gay, who had 18 points in the loss. "It gets bigger and they keep throwing shots at it and they keep falling. Its all confidence." Whatever confidence the Raptors had and had worked hard to maintain for 34 minutes was gone. Their offence was almost non-existent. It "stunk", as Gay put it himself. They recorded just one fourth-quarter assist, turned the ball over four times and shot 1-of-7 from beyond the three-point line, many of those shots were forced early in the clock. DeMar DeRozan led the team in scoring with 26 while backcourt mate Kyle Lowry added 20 to go along with nine assists. The momentum began to shift when Lowry was taken out of the game with a head injury late in the third after colliding with Warriors centre Andrew Bogut. Lowry passed concussion tests on the bench and then again after the game but by the time he re-entered in the fourth the Raptors lead was shrinking at a rapid pace. "I just wanted to get back out there and see if I could help the team," Lowry said. "I didnt make any shots and I didnt really help the team. They made a hell of a run against us." The crowd didnt help Torontos cause. "I couldnt hear my defence," Lowry admitted. "I couldnt hear my guys out there. I mean honestly, that crowd, I really couldnt hear." The Raptors first half was as good as theyve played all year, for what its worth. Their 65 points were the most theyve scored in a half this season. They led by 17 at the break, shot 60 per cent and out-rebounded the home team 25-11. Amir Johnson, who came off the bench for the second straight game, looked like his old self. Johnson had 14 of his 16 points, on 6-of-7 shooting in the first half. Toronto has now dropped four straight, with two more games to go on the road before returning home to face San Antonio, the defending Western Conference champs. The schedule gets tougher before it gets any easier and with GM Masai Ujiri watching and waiting, time is not a luxury they can afford to waste. Tuesdays was an embarrassing loss and one thats hard to justify without making excuses, something this team is no longer supposed to be doing. It was the type of loss - for all the talk about moving on and getting the next one - that sticks with a player, a coach, a franchise. It could be the type of haunting, season-defining loss this same team experienced on the road a year ago. Nike Free Run 2 Herre . Bolts priority is refining the mechanics of his stride. "In this race, Ill try to get the perfect execution," Bolt said. "When I go out there, I should really focus on trying to get everything together, trying to get the right technique. Nike Free Run tilbud .S. Olympic Trials next summer in the hopes of qualifying for London 2012. This would be her fourth Olympic appearance, having competed in Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 before retiring at age 24. http://www.danmarkskobutik.com/ . Its not a criticism of another team; hes not in a war of words with an opposing player. Bautista has taken aim at the umpires, most recently upset with Jeff Nelsons strike zone on opening night. Nike Air Max Thea . LOUIS -- While taking down the San Francisco Giants bullpen, the St. Nike Free Run 2 Dame . -- Adam Cracknell scored a tiebreaking goal with 2:20 to play and Chris Stewart had a goal and two assists as the St.SOELDEN, Austria - If skiings opening weekend was any indication, the United States is in for quite an Olympic season. Ted Ligety, Mikaela Shiffrin, Bode Miller and Tim Jitloff underlined the squads enormous potential on the Rettenbach glacier in Austria. "Im really happy with how things are going," U.S. Alpine director Patrick Riml said. "The coaches and staff did an unbelievable job getting the athletes ready." And with Lindsey Vonn planning to return in a month from right knee surgery and Julia Mancuso always a threat on a big stage, the Americans could surpass their eight medals from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics at the Sochi Games, which run Feb. 7-23. "Everything is going on track," Riml said. "Im feeling confident with our whole setup." Ligety won the opening giant slalom for the third consecutive year. The 18-year-old Shiffrin matched her career-best World Cup result in the discipline with a sixth-place finish. Miller marked his return from 20 months off by placing 19th after starting outside the top 30. Jitloff was 20th with one big error that probably cost him about 10 positions. Perhaps the only negative note was Mancuso finishing 27th. But Mancuso always seems to save her best for major championships, as evidenced by her gold medal in giant slalom at the 2006 Turin Games and two silvers in Vancouver. "Julia is always showing she does well at the big events," former U.S. mens head coach Phil McNichol said. "Lindsey is Lindsey. Ted is coming off three (gold) medals at the world championships. Bodes back in the mix. Mikaela is going to be a force to be reckoned with. So its going to be a very interesting Olympic cycle." Ligety dominated giant slalom last season, winning six of eight races on the World Cup plus the world championship race in Schladming, Austria, where he was also a surprise winner in super-G and super-combined. "Last year we had an awesome prep here but this year was less so, so I wasnt 100 per cent confident of how I was skiing," Ligety said. "But then we had good training here in Soelden and the last couple of weeks I started to feel a little better. Its nice to have some confirmation." Ligety is enjoying having his childhood friend and former junior world downhill champion Adam Cole on the coaching staff this season. "We grew up together," Ligety said. "Hes also young and athletic so he can do dry-land with us and we can go play other sports and push each other." Shiffrin dominated in slalom last season with four wins plus the world title and now looks like a two-event threat with her giant slalom vastly improved. After the Olympics, Shiffrin could expand into the speed events. Shiffrin is also maturing off the hilll.dddddddddddd Her mother, who has accompanied her in Europe for the past two seasons, said this is probably the last season shell be there. "I may not have to stay here as she keeps getting more and more comfortable," Eileen Shiffrin said. Shiffrin has improved so much in GS that she was beating male teammates in training the past couple of weeks. Which guys was she beating? Thats still a secret. "Shiffrin was skiing unbelievably fast," mens head coach Sasha Rearick said. "Im not going to tell you." As for the 36-year-old Miller — yes, hes twice Shiffrins age — his new slimmer frame appears to be paying off. The two-time overall World Cup winner lost nearly 30 pounds during his season off to recover from left knee surgery. Miller skied to 13th place with the No. 32 bib in the opening run and was able to hang on in the second leg. "I wasnt tired at all," Miller said. "I think my fitness is higher now for a World Cup than its ever been. Im snappy and springy and I can go as long as the courses are. ... Theres obviously some lack of inertia, some weight, but I dont think thats going to be an issue." If Miller already has his form back in giant slalom, he could really excel in the speed events of downhill and super-G, where hes had nearly all of his wins in recent years. "GS was the one event where we hadnt been able to put the most volume in because it was causing some more knee irritation," Rearick said. "So if hes been able to do what hes done this week, its beyond my expectations." Millers fitness should also get a boost from the speed teams newly hired conditioning coach, Tony Beretzki, an Austrian who once worked with Hermann Maier and Stephan Eberharter and spent the last four years with the Spartak Moscow soccer team. With Miller out last season, downhillers Marco Sullivan, Steven Nyman and Travis Ganong each had solid starts, but their conditioning dropped off around January. "He has brought a great, great program and is doing an awesome job," Rearick said. The womens speed team, meanwhile, is coming off a record-breaking season that included podium finishes not just for Vonn and Mancuso, but also for Stacey Cook, Alice McKennis, Leanne Smith and Laurenne Ross. The bar of expectations has been raised for Cook & Co. this season. "You definitely want to back up those results," womens head coach Alex Hoedlmoser said. "You want to be contenders with all of those girls on a regular basis." The speed teams dont race until events in Lake Louise, Alberta, and Beaver Creek, Colo., on Thanksgiving weekend. Next up are slaloms in Levi, Finland, Nov. 16-17. ___ Follow Andrew Dampf at http://twitter.com/asdampf cheap jerseys cheap nfl jerseys ' ' '