Raptors Beat Magic, Now Trail 2-1

This time the first few minutes belonged to Toronto — and it made all the difference.

T.J. Ford scored 21 points as the Raptors defeated the Orlando Magic 108-94 on Thursday, dominating the game from the opening whistle for the first time in the series to shrug off lacklustre starts in the previous two games.

Jose Calderon came off the bench to add 18 points and 13 assists for the Raptors, who now trail the Magic 2-1 in the best-of-seven playoff series. Chris Bosh and Jason Kapono had 15 points apiece, Jamario Moon finished with 11 points and 10 boards, and Anthony Parker chipped in with 10 points.

Hedo Turkoglu scored 26 points to top Orlando, while Dwight Howard had 19 points and 12 rebounds, playing almost the final nine minutes with five fouls.

Game 4 is Saturday at the Air Canada Centre.

The Raptors trailed by double digits in both Games 1 and 2 at Orlando, and they vowed not to let it happen again. They responded with a franchise high for points in a post-season game.

The Magic suffered a scare moments after the game, when point guard Jameer Nelson collapsed on his way to the dressing room with back spasms. An update on his status wasn’t immediately available.

Toronto coach Sam Mitchell inserted Moon into the starting lineup for Rasho Nesterovic to provide some spark out of the gate, and the moved paid off. The athletic forward had eight points and five rebounds in the first quarter, and his steal off Maurice Evans that led to a huge dunk midway through the frame brought the red-clad, sellout crowd of 20,023 to its feet.

Mitchell also decided to stick with Ford as his starting point guard, despite his struggles in Games 1 and 2 in which he had 11 points combined. The pint-sized guard played at full throttle Thursday, and behind his 18 first-half points, the Raptors were up by 13 points in the first quarter, and had stretched their lead to as much as 23 late in the second.

The Raptors’  61-40 halftime lead marked a franchise high for playoff points in a half.

Toronto took an 80-69 lead into the fourth. A three-pointer by Keith Bogans pulled Orlando within 11 points with 6:12 to play, but a flurry of Raptor baskets that included two big dunks by Bosh and threes by Kapono and Carlos Delfino had Toronto back up by 18 with two minutes left in the game.

Toronto’s point-guard tandem worked almost flawlessly, as Calderon played all of the fourth quarter, leading Toronto in a strong finish.

Kapono also played well for the third straight post-season game, shooting 6-for-10 from the field.The Raptors shot 49 per cent on the night, while Orlando connected on 47 per cent of its shots. The Raptors outrebounded Orlando 42-34.

The Raptors fed off the noisy Air Canada Centre crowd, a sea of red thanks to a T-shirt giveaway. The noise at times was ear-splitting, and the jeers were saved for Howard as the crowd chanted his name whenever he went to the free-throw line.

The Raptors never trailed by more than four points, and that was in the first three minutes of the game, and they promptly went on a 22-5 run, capped by a Moon layup that put them up by 13 points, Toronto took a 28-20 lead into the second.

Toronto continued their domination in the second, a three by Calderon putting Toronto up by 18 with just over five minutes to go in the half. The Raptors would go ahead by as much as 23 points on a dunk by Bosh with 13 seconds left, and went into the dressing room up by 21.

The Magic opened the third with a 13-3 run to cut Toronto’s lead to 11 points. The Raptors were up 80-69 with one quarter left.