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Turkoglu, Nelson take center stage as Magic top Raptors

Nov 19, 2008 - 4:10 AM ORLANDO, Florida (Ticker) -- With all the attention focused on Dwight Howard, the superstar center's supporting cast took control Tuesday night.

Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu caught fire in the fourth quarter to lead a balanced scoring attack as the Orlando Magic kept their hot streak alive with a 103-90 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

"I thought it was a very, very good win for us - the best we've played all year," Orlando head coach Stan Van Gundy said.

Howard put together another solid showing with 18 points and nine boards, but it was his teammates that did the most damage.

Turkoglu opened up the fourth quarter with seven straight points and hit four 3-pointers in the final frame alone. The Raptors pulled to within six midway through the period before Howard knocked down a hook shot to push the lead to eight.

Turkoglu followed with a 3-pointer and Nelson added a 20-footer from the top of the key as the Magic held on to win their fourth straight - and eighth in their last nine games since a disappointing 0-2 start.

"Every time we got within making a run they hit a three," Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell said. "And they've got a bunch of guys who can make threes."

Turkoglu, Nelson and Rashard Lewis finished with 22 points apiece.

"I was just playing aggressive, looking for my shot first," Nelson said. "When I make my shots, or I take my shots, teams start focusing on my pick-and-roll game and then leaving people wide open. In the second half, they left a lot of people open and I found them."

The Magic took control in the third. With the team nursing a one-point lead, Nelson found Howard for a dunk to spark a 9-0 run to make it a 60-50 ballgame. J.J. Redick added a pair of buckets, including a 3-pointer, to cap the run. Orlando kept Toronto comfortably at bay for the rest of the night.

"My first three shots were a little long, back of the rim. They all felt good," Redick said. "I drank a little bit of coffee before the game, I felt like I was bouncing around in warmups ... Once I settled down a little bit, I was able to knock down some shots."

Redick, who has played sparingly this season, was a surprise addition to the starting lineup. Prior to the game, Van Gundy was faced with the tough choice as to who was going to start at shooting guard.

Would the local fans get an extended look at Redick despite his weak recent play, or the sight of a banged-up Mickael Pietrus, who was a game-time decision with bruised ribs?

Or, for that matter, would the nod go to Keith Bogans, the Magic's leading scorer off the bench?

Pietrus was originally listed as the starter no more than an hour before tip-off, but a last-minute switch gave Redick the chance to earn some extra playing time. The former 11th overall pick has played sparingly throughout his NBA career and came into the game averaging 0.3 points per game this season - and was 0-of-4 from 3-point range.

In the end, he was one of five Orlando players to reach double figures in scoring. He collected 10 points on 4-of-9 shooting - including 2-of-4 from the arc- while logging a career-high 35 minutes.

"Overall I thought that I played well both offensively and defensively," Redick said. "It definitely has been a slow start for me this season. Maybe if I hit two more shots to make it 6-for-9 from the field, then maybe you guys (the media) would have thought I had a great night. I did well, but I can still improve."

He was on the floor for much of the first half, as Orlando played to a 45-45 halftime tie despite being outshot and outrebounded.

"I thought we got off to a bad start; we got down 10 early," Van Gundy said. "But I thought we both held our poise and picked up our intensity, and then I thought in the second half we were terrific."

The Raptors wasted a stellar effort from All-Star center Chris Bosh, who collected 40 points and 18 boards. He was one point shy of matching his individual franchise scoring record against the Magic of 41 points. Prior to the game, Bosh was fourth in the league in scoring at 25.1 points per game.

"I said he would get 40 points before the game and in fact, he did," Van Gundy said. "Bosh is a handful. One thing that I didn't like tonight is that we gave him about 15 free-throw attempts."