TORONTO - The Toronto Raptors were hoping to put the brakes on a three-game winless skid at the Air Canada Centre on Friday night.

Dwyane Wade made sure they didn't. Wade put up 42 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished out eight assists as the visiting Heat had five players score in double figures to send the slumping Raptors (23-40) to their fourth consecutive loss with a 108-102 victory.

Wade, who was 17-of-23 from the floor, including 3-of-5 from beyond the arc, became the first player to have two 40 point games against the Raptors in the same season.

"That's what he does," Raptors captain Chris Bosh said of Wade's 42-point performance. "He's very difficult to stop and you really have to guard him with the whole team."

The Raptors, who were playing the Heat (33-28) for the first time since a Feb. 13 trade sent Jermaine O'Neal and Jamario Moon to Miami for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks, were led on the score sheet by Bosh, who had 34 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Andrea Bargnani added 23 points, Anthony Parker had 16 and nine assists and Marion and Jason Kapono each had 10 points.

New acquisition Pops Mensah-Bonsu came off the bench to chip in four points and 10 rebounds for the Raptors in nearly 15 minutes of floor time. The Raptors acquired the six-foot-10 centre on Friday and signed him to a contract for the remainder of the season. The 25-year-old was released by the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday.

"I just thought we needed the energy," Raptors coach Jay Triano said of Mensah-Bonsu's extended minutes. "He is what we have been looking for. He is still trying to learn (the system), but he had 10 rebounds and his hands on four or five others that he might have been able to get."

Michael Beasley had 12 points and five rebounds off the bench for the Heat, while Chris Quinn, Mario Chambers, and Udonis Haslem added 10 points each. O'Neal finished with eight points and four blocks and Moon had five points and five rebounds.

The Raptors had hoped a game with the Heat, who they had beaten in six consecutive meetings coming into Friday, would help put the memories of a miserable western road swing behind them. But home hasn't exactly been a safe haven for the Raptors this season, who are now 12-17 at the ACC. And Wade made sure it wasn't any safer Friday night.

"Right now I am in a groove and when my jump shot is going like it is, I get more and more confident. Hopefully I can keep it up," Wade said.

"Obviously D-Wade had a lot to do with it (the Heat winning). He shot the ball extremely well," said Parker. "Ideally you want to keep him from out of the paint and shooting those kind of shots but they were falling for him tonight. Nights when he's hitting those kind of shots it's going to be tough."

It was an unfortunate start to what is a crucial home stand for the Raptors if they hope to reach the post-season. Toronto now has 10 games remaining in March - eight at home, including a stretch of five in a row to close out the month.

The Raptors stumbled out of the gate and only led 24-22 at the end of the first quarter. They quickly fell behind in the second and played catchup ball for the rest of the game.

The Raptors tried to stage a comeback in the fourth after failing behind by as much as 15 points. Wade made an impossible 14-foot fadeaway jumper with 35 seconds left that sealed the win for the Heat.

"We went down 15 and when you dig yourself that big a hole against a good team, it's tough," Parker said.

"To our credit we did scrap and come back and get back into it. We did shoot 50 per cent but so did they. Each time we gave up a second chance rebound, they hit a big three or something happened. It was tough."

The Raptors will try to redeem themselves at home Sunday afternoon when they face the Utah Jazz.

Notes: Jose Calderon supplanted Damon Stoudamire for second on the Raptors all-time assist list. Calderon had six assists last night for a career total of 1,767. Stoudamire had 1,761 assists while with the Raptors. . . . It was the first time Miami has won two games in a row since Jan. 24-28 when it had three consecutive victories. . . . The Heat's previous win over Toronto was a 92-89 victory in Miami on April 3, 2007. . . . Toronto plays 13 of their final 20 games at the ACC. Fifteen of those games are against teams currently at or below .500.