Howard Orlando's magic wand, Raptors disappear

BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Dwight Howard scored 21 points, grabbed 21 rebounds and blocked three shots ¢w his third 20-20 game in the series ¢w and the Magic moved on to the second round in the NBA playoffs for the first time in 12 years by beating the Toronto Raptors 102-92 in Game 5 on Monday night.

"There was a different demeanor from him," Van Gundy said of his young center. "Dwight is a fun-loving guy and he likes to fool around. There are a lot of times during the year, not bad, but a lot of times during the year where I've got to try to bring him back to being serious when we're preparing.

"I did not have to say one word, from the start of preparation for this series all the way through," Van Gundy added.

Howard's game said it all. And with Orlando's usually steady 3-point shooting on the fritz, his inside power was enough to pull them through.

T.J. Ford and Carlos Delfino both scored 14 points for the Raptors, while Jason Kapono had 13 and Jose Calderon 12. Delfino added seven rebounds and Ford had five assists.

Nelson scored 19 points for Orlando and Rashard Lewis had 18 points and 13 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu just missed a triple-double with 12 points, eight rebounds and nine assists, while Maurice Evans scored 12 points and Bogans added 11.

Orlando hadn't won a playoff series since 1996, when Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway led the team to the Eastern Conference finals. The Magic played 28 postseason games in the intervening years, winning only eight.

The Magic will play the winner of the Detroit-Philadelphia series, which is tied 2-2, in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

(Agencies)