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Howard had only three points on 1-for-3 shooting until the fourth quarter, sitting long stretches with foul trouble. He seemed energized after the rest, and scored six straight in a 1:10 stretch that expanded Orlando's lead to 89-79 with six minutes remaining.
T.J. Ford single-handedly kept Toronto alive in the fourth quarter. He scored 13 of his 20 points in the period, the first 13 the Raptors had. Anthony Parker added 19 points and nine rebounds and Jose Calderon scored 14 points, but Toronto lost its third straight.
Rashard Lewis scored 22 for Orlando and Jameer Nelson added 13.
Orlando is third in the Eastern Conference at 39-23, while the Raptors are fifth at 32-27.
It shouldn't have been that hard for the Magic. The Raptors were without leading scorer Chris Bosh for the second consecutive game. He had 40 points in their last meeting.
Both teams were awful from the field in the first half -- particularly the first quarter. Orlando was 8-for-22 in the period, including just 1 of 11 on 3-pointers, while the Raptors shot 9-for-26. The Magic ended up 52.6 percent (40-of-76) compared with 40.9 percent for Toronto (36-of-88).
Orlando led 44-41 at halftime, then extended it to 10 in the third quarter. Toronto responded with a 17-6 run over to take a 60-59 lead, its first since the third quarter. Orlando regained it 22 seconds later on a reverse layup from Nelson, and never gave it up.
Notes: Keyon Dooling missed his second straight game with a sore left foot. ... The Raptors enjoyed an audible fan section. Orlando is a popular destination for Canadian tourists. ... Toronto concludes a three-game road trip Wednesday at Miami. | 
