Toronto Raptors' DeMar DeRozan (left) is fouled as he drives at Phoenix Suns' P.J. Tucker on Jan. 22, 2017.Chris Young/The Canadian Press
In the end the game turned downright ugly, with Kyle Lowry getting tossed after he was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul for clipping Brandon Knight in the head with his arm as the Phoenix Suns' guard was in the act of shooting.
That soured the mood in Air Canada Centre even further, if that was possible, with one joker then lobbing an object onto the court in the vicinity of the Suns' bench.
This all occurred with 90 seconds left on Sunday night with Phoenix putting the finishing touches on a 115-103 victory over the Toronto Raptors, a suddenly stumbling NBA team.
The loss against one of the worst teams in the Western Conference was Toronto's third in a row and the first time since November of 2015 that the Raptors have dropped that many in succession.
And Lowry wasn't the only one who was frustrated. DeMar DeRozan, Toronto's all-star-bound leading scorer, was bellyaching throughout the fourth quarter after turning his ankle.
Toronto coach Dwane Casey said it was easy to see the frustrations of the game gripping his team mentally.
"Of course, when you lose three in a row you should be frustrated, you should be upset," Casey said. "I don't want anybody in the locker room not to be upset and frustrated because we've set a standard for ourselves to be better than that.
"And again, it's not about offence. I've said that the entire year. It's about getting stops because there's going to be nights and games when your shot's not falling. And that's where we are right now."
Until the Raptors can learn to cope when things do not go their way, their aspirations of being considered among the NBA's elite will be difficult to achieve.
"We've got to learn to play through that," Casey said. "We're going to get everybody's best shot, no matter who it is."
Despite their record, the Suns were intent to show they were no pushovers and hounded Toronto at almost every step, especially on defence where there was rarely an unobstructed journey to the basket for a Raptor shooter.
The Raptors carved out a tough 85-82 lead through three quarters, but just could not shake the dogged Suns.
Tyson Chandler muscled home a tough hook shot for Phoenix with Jonas Valanciunas right in his face, which knotted the score 95-95 with under eight minutes left.
A fast-break layup by P.J. Tucker moved Phoenix in front 99-97 with just over six minutes left.
Phoenix guard Eric Bledsoe was virtually unstoppable, hitting from all over the court. It was his pull-up jumper from 11 feet that gave Phoenix a 107-100 lead with about 3 1/2 minutes left.
Bledsoe finished with 40 points and 13 assists.
The Raptors, who struggled with their shooting, saved their worst for last, connecting on just five of their 19 shots in the ill-fated fourth quarter, including just two-of-10 from three-point range.
Over all, Toronto connected on a miserable 39.8 per cent (33 of 83) while Phoenix connected at a rate of 50.6 per cent (40 of 79).
And after Tyson Chandler hit a tip-dunk that extended the Suns' lead to nine, the Raptors surrendered to the inevitable and Lowry, who earlier in the game was handed a technical, got physical with Knight and got expelled.
DeRozan finished with 22 points for Toronto while Lowry added 15.
Lowry said the hit on Knight was by no means dirty.
"Honestly, I thought he was gonna go for a floater. I swiped across and hit his head, he took another dribble," he said. "I'm not a dirty player. I already sent a text to apologize to him."
As for the team's struggles, Lowry did not appear overly worried, stating that none of the players are panicking.
"It's a little bit of adversity," he said. "But we're professionals. No one's feeling sorry for us. We'll be fine."
The long wingspan of the seven-foot Lucas Nogueira, returning to the Raptors' starting lineup after a two-game layoff after suffering from concussion symptoms, helped him score 11 points and was instrumental in Toronto securing a 31-28 first-quarter lead.
The Suns kept the heat on, shooting a solid 51.1 per cent from the floor during the opening half, when the Raptors emerged with a 60-57 advantage.
The game bogged down in the third quarter but the slow pace favoured the Raptors, whose lead extended to seven points – 79-72 – after DeRozan made three from the free-throw line.
A Jared Sullinger layup with just under 20 seconds left sent Toronto into the fourth with an 85-82 lead.