Raptors Come Up Short In Game Four, Magic Take 3-1 Series Lead

The Toronto Raptors could be one game away from saying so long to their season.

But facing what Chris Bosh acknowledges will be the “hardest game of the year,” the Raptors captain wasn’t ready to concede defeat just yet.

“Don’t we have a game Monday?” Bosh said. “It’s not over yet, it’s not over until we lose one game, so we have to show up and we have to win, that’s a fact of the matter.”

Bosh had 39 points and 15 rebounds Saturday, but the best post-season performance of his career wasn’t enough as Toronto fell 106-94 to Orlando, giving the Magic a 3-1 lead and sending the best-of-seven series back to Orlando with the Raptors facing elimination.

“We can sit here all day and mope and complain but if we have another game, we’re still alive. I feel good so I’m ready to play,” Bosh said.

Rashard Lewis scored 27 points to lead Orlando, which took control in the final few minutes in what had been a back-and-forth battle all afternoon.

“We have got to fight like the dickens,” said Raptors coach Sam Mitchell. “We’ve got to go out kicking and screaming, and so everything we’ve got, we’ve got to put into it.”

T.J. Ford had 12 points and 13 assists, while while Anthony Parker and Jason Kapono chipped in 12 points apiece for the Raptors, who travel back to Orlando where they lost Games 1 and 2 of the series.

Dwight Howard added 19 points and 16 boards for Orlando, while Jameer Nelson had 19 points and Hedo Turkoglu finished with 18.

The game was up for grabs most of the afternoon with the lead changing hands seven times. The biggest lead heading into the fourth quarter was an eight-point Orlando advantage from back in the first quarter.

Toronto held a 74-73 lead to begin the fourth, but couldn’t put any significant distance on the Magic. The game slipped away from the Raptors in the final few minutes with a flurry of Orlando three-pointers and some defensive miscues by Toronto, much to the dismay of the capacity crowd of 20,146 at the Air Canada Centre.

“We couldn’t make shots and we were out of rhythm,” said Kapono. “They played well down the stretch and we let them score. They made a couple of tough hoops, a couple of tough threes and that was the difference.”

Back-to-back threes by Turkoglu and Lewis gave the Magic a 100-92 lead with 1:31 left to play to clinch the victory, as many of the red-clad Raptors fans headed for the exits. Bosh’s dunk with 35 seconds left was Toronto’s only basket in the final two-and-a-half minutes.

“I think we just didn’t make shots,” Bosh said. “That’s what it came down to. We never really got on that roll that we usually get on, especially at home. We usually make those shots and that is what’s tough about it, because in a series like this every game is important.

“We can sit here and talk about offence all day, but it’s about defence,” he added. “If we stop them then the game is still close and we still have a chance to win.”

The Raptors shot 44 per cent on the afternoon and made just two of 15 three-point attempts, and their shot disappeared down the stretch when they needed it most.

Orlando shot 49 per cent on the afternoon, and the team that led the league in three-point shooting in the regular-season went 11-for-29 from long range. The Magic also outrebounded Toronto 48-42.

“They got some timely shots, and we didn’t make any threes,” Mitchell said. “I said in the regular season that when you play this team you’ve got to score some points because they are going to score.”

The soldout crowd at the ACC was at its rowdiest once again, pestering Howard all game. The Magic all-star though said he loved it.

“It’s so much fun playing here, I think the fans are great,” Howard said. “This is my first real playoff game on the road like this, these last two games, and the atmosphere was just amazing. Even though they were going against me, just hearing all the fans yelling and cheering and rooting their team on was just an unbelievable feeling.”

While Orlando scorched Toronto for double-digit first-quarter deficits in Games 1 and 2, and the Raptors dominated the opening quarter of Game 3, neither team took control in the early going Saturday. A three by Bogans put the Magic up by eight points with 1:38 to go in the quarter, but they only led 31-26 heading into the second.

With Bosh leading the way with 11 points in the second quarter, the Raptors outscored the Magic 27-17 in the frame. Bosh’s finger roll with 3.3 seconds left sent Toronto to the dressing room with a 53-48 lead, their biggest of the game to that point.

The Raptors took a seven-point lead midway through the third on a dunk by Bosh, but the Magic tied the game on a dunk by Maurice Evans with just under a minute to play. A free throw by Bosh put Toronto up 74-73 with a quarter left in the game.