The Canadian Press

Orlando Magic guard Jameer Nelson (14) drives to the hoop past Toronto Raptors forwards Chris Bosh (right) and Hedo Turkoglu (26) during second half NBA action in Toronto on Sunday November 1, 2009. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn)

TORONTO — Jameer Nelson scored 30 points, while J.J. Redick added a career-high 27 to lead the Orlando Magic to a 125-116 win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday.

Chris Bosh had 35 points and 16 rebounds to top Toronto (1-2), while Andrea Bargnani finished with 26 points, Hedo Turkoglu added 19 in his first game against his former team, and Jose Calderon finished with 10.

Dwight Howard had 24 points and 11 rebounds for the Magic (3-0), who were playing without former Raptors star Vince Carter. Ryan Anderson finished with 20 points, while Matt Barnes had 12.

The Magic had the hot hand from long-range all afternoon, draining seven three-pointers in a first-quarter barrage en route to 17 in the game. Last year's Eastern Conference champs led from early in the first quarter and were ahead by as much as 22 points midway through the second and barely looked back.

Orlando took an 81-68 lead into the fourth in front of 18,147 fans at the Air Canada Centre when the Raptors finally showed some signs of life. A driving layup by Turkoglu, followed by a dunk by Bosh cut the deficit to four points with 5:27 to go.

Bargnani, who had just four points in the first half, had a strong finish, his back-to-back baskets pulling the Raptors to within 115-111 with 4:05 to play.

But Anderson responded with a dunk followed by a Howard layup and Orlando was back up by eight with 2:26 to go, pulling away over the final two minutes.

There were some heated moments late in the fourth between Bosh and Howard, good friends off the court and teammates on the U.S. Olympic team. Bosh grabbed the hulking Orlando centre around the neck in a battle under the hoop.

Carter sat out the game with an ankle injury, avoiding the boos that greet him every time he plays in Toronto. Carter, who was acquired by Orlando in the off-season in the move that allowed Toronto to sign Turkoglu, sprained his left ankle in the second quarter of the Magic's 95-85 win at New Jersey on Friday.

"He tried to go, he can go straight ahead," said Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy. "He said if he didn't have to play any defence, he would be fine. I've had some guys before who didn't play any defence. It's generally not something we encourage."

Turns out the Magic didn't need Carter. The Raptors defence, clearly still a work in progress, looked out of sync all afternoon, and was ineffective against Orlando's long-range shooting. Their answer for Howard was to send the hulking centre to the free throw line -- but Howard made 14 of his 16 attempts.

The Raptors loss came despite shooting 54 per cent from the floor, compared to 44 per cent for Orlando.

The Magic was also without swingman Mickael Pietrus who missed the game with an illness and flew home before tipoff.

"He had a cold, his fever started to go up and, the way the world is right now, you're not going to mess around with that stuff," Van Gundy said. "We just wanted to get him away from anybody."

Van Gundy said Pietrus hadn't been tested for the H1N1 virus, but the team wasn't taking any chances, keeping Pietrus away from a meeting Sunday morning and then flying him home without his teammates.

The Magic had the hot-hand from beyond the arc from the opening tip-off, with Anderson accounting for three of Orlando's first-quarter threes. Nelson's first of a pair of threes in the quarter put the Magic up 29-18 with just under two minutes to go, and Orlando led 36-28 heading into the second.

Redick's three five minutes into the second quarter gave Orlando a 54-22 lead before the Raptors finally showed some life, cutting the difference to nine points with a 16-3 run. Orlando took a 64-53 advantage into the dressing room at halftime.

Nelson had 13 points in the third as the Magic stretched their lead to 16 points, but Toronto battled back one again with a 15-5 run to come within six. Orlando took a 99-89 lead into the fourth.

NOTES: Bosh picked up a technical foul for arguing with officials in the first quarter. . . Orlando's Matt Barnes was given a technical after getting tangled up with Bargnani after a free throw. . . The Raptors split last season's series with Orlando. . . The Raptors are home to Detroit on Wednesday, then depart for a three-game road trip that takes them through New Orleans, Dallas and San Antonio.