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Raptors overcome early deficit, complete sweep of Magic

Apr 5, 2007 - 6:10 AM ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) -- The Toronto Raptors have the Orlando Magic's number. As a result, they continue to reduce their magic number and put a thorn in the Magic's hopes.

Chris Bosh scored 28 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the Raptors to a 111-108 victory over the Magic.

On the heels of Bosh, Toronto overcame an early 15-point deficit in the second quarter and got a boost early in the third from Joey Graham and Anthony Parker to complete a four-game season sweep of Orlando. With the win, the Raptors reduced their magic number to clinch their first Atlantic Division title to two.

"I know that we have come a long way," Bosh said. "I can count several occasions in my mind that we were down 15 on the road and we did not capitalize on our situation. I am just proud how far the team has come along.

"We are very aware that we are in the race for third place (in the Eastern Conference) right now. Every game means something. You can't take a day off. Home court is very important, so we are going to keep playing.

Orlando (34-41) remains in eighth place in the Eastern Conference playoff race, 1 1/2 games ahead of Indiana (32-42).

Graham and Parker picked up the load for Bosh in the third quarter, combining for all of the points that sparked a 10-3 run in the first 3:04 of the second half that gave Toronto a lead it did not relinquish.

"We started hitting more shots," Graham said. "That is what helped us out. A.P. (Parker) and I and a couple other guys hit a few big shots. We got our legs underneath us."

Hedo Turkoglu scored a career-high 37 points - including six 3-pointers - for the Magic.

"Turkoglu had an unbelievable game," Raptors coach Sam Mitchell said. "He just kept answering whatever we threw at him."

Following a runner by Keyon Dooling that gave the Magic a 39-24 lead 33 seconds into the second quarter, Toronto outscored Orlando, 28-18, the rest of the way to dwindle its deficit down to five by halftime. Bosh scored 11 of his 21 first-half points during the surge.

The Raptors' leading scorer has dominated Orlando this season, averaging 34 points and 11 boards in the three games.

Charlotte forward Darko Milicic was ejected with 3:39 left in the third quarter for arguing.