TORONTO – Rashard Lewis had 27 points and 13 rebounds, Dwight Howard added 19 points and 16 boards, and the Orlando Magic beat the Toronto Raptors 106-94 on Saturday to take a 3-1 lead in their first-round playoff series.

Jameer Nelson scored 12 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter, while Hedo Turkoglu had 18 points and nine rebounds for the third-seeded Magic.

Chris Bosh set a career playoff-high with 39 points and added 15 rebounds for the Raptors, who face elimination in Game 5 on Monday night at Orlando. T.J. Ford had 12 points and 13 assists for the Raptors.

Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said Lewis was “outstanding.”

“He stepped up big today,” Van Gundy said. “It’s not just scoring, that was his best rebounding game, maybe of the year.”

Lewis went 10-for-19 from the field. The Magic made four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter and finished 11-for-29 from beyond the arc.

Toronto held a 76-73 lead after three, but Lewis tied it at 78 with a 3 from the top with 8:58 left. The game stayed close until back-to-back 3-pointers by Turkoglu and Lewis gave the Magic a 100-92 lead with 1:31 remaining.

Jason Kapono and Anthony Parker each scored 12 for the Raptors, who were just 2-for-15 from 3-point range. Bosh finished 16-for-26.

“In the second half, we shot the 3 well, and that’s big for us,” Van Gundy said. “Obviously, it’s a big thing for them, too, and they didn’t shoot it well today.”

Keith Bogans scored 12 for the Magic.

Orlando used big first quarters to win Games 1 and 2, while Toronto fed off the energy of its home crowd to build a big lead in the opening half of its Game 3 win. This time, however, neither team was able to pull away early.

Lakers 102, Nuggets 84

DENVER – Once again, the Denver Nuggets couldn’t keep their emotions or Kobe Bryant in check.

Bryant scored 22 points and the Los Angeles Lakers took a 3-0 lead in their first-round series, routing the flustered Nuggets 102-84 on Saturday.

Game 4 is Monday night, and the Nuggets are going to have to get more out of their All-Star duo of Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson if they hope to take the series back to the Staples Center. Anthony and Iverson were miserable from the floor, shooting a combined 10-for-38 and finishing with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Bryant was quiet, too, at least in the first half, when he scored eight points on 3-for-8 shooting.

He scored nine quick points in the third quarter, however, to put the Lakers ahead 64-51 and quiet the Pepsi Center crowd that loves to hate him.

Bryant has always played well in Colorado, where fans have persistently heckled him ever since he was charged with sexual assault at a ski resort in the Rocky Mountains in 2003, even after the criminal case was dismissed and a civil suit settled.

An airball slowed Bryant’s surge just when it looked like he was going to repeat his 19-point, 41/2-minute surge in Game 2, but the Nuggets trailed 69-51 after Lamar Odom’s two free throws.

Anthony drew a technical foul – Denver’s seventh in the series – after he was stripped on his way to the basket, leading to a breakaway by Bryant that stretched the Lakers’ lead to 78-61 with 2:33 left in the third.

Los Angeles took an 83-64 lead into the fourth quarter and never looked back.

Luke Walton added 15 points off the bench for Los Angeles, and Pau Gasol and Derek Fisher each scored 14.

By the closing minutes, the Lakers’ bench was more interested in a fight in the stands that led to some belligerent fans being taken away by police officers. Even Bryant stuck a peek while teammate Jordan Farmar was shooting free throws at the other end of the court.

On his next touch, Bryant hit a 3-pointer from the right elbow for a 100-78 lead, then took a seat and acknowledged with a thumbs-up his very own cheering section that had drowned out the boo birds during the second half and continued the “MVP!” chants that serenaded him back in California.

The Nuggets, who have lost seven straight playoff games, not only wanted to keep their composure coming back to Colorado, but they also figured they could get to the rim and the foul line more than they had in the first two games in Los Angeles.

Nothing doing.

They limped to the locker room trailing 53-46 at halftime with ‘Melo and A.I. a combined 5-for-21, pretty much negating the boost they got from forward Linas Kleiza’s start.

Kleiza’s insertion into the starting lineup in Game 2 in place of guard Anthony Carter was key to the Nuggets keeping up with the taller Lakers – until he hyper-extended his right elbow on a hard foul by Gasol and the Lakers pulled away for another double-digit win.

Despite missing practice Friday, Kleiza scored 15 points, but he got little help.

With Denver missing jumpers, layups, committing three-second violations and not drawing any fouls, the Lakers began pulling away after Anthony’s basket with 4:29 left in the second quarter had tied it at 42.

Bryant hit a sweet 6-foot jumper, Gasol sank a free throw and Vladimir Radmanovic swished a 3-pointer, forcing the Nuggets to call timeout.

It didn’t help. Gasol sank two more foul shots to make it 51-42 before Iverson hit four free throws in the final minute. Before that, the Nuggets had shot just four free throws all game.

Denver defensive specialist Kenyon Martin was the only one keeping the Nuggets from getting trampled early on. He hit four of his first six shots while his teammates were a combined 1-for-13 from the floor.

In the third quarter, however, Martin was the victim more often than not as Bryant got hot and starting hitting all kinds of shots over and around him.

Notes: The Nuggets’ 33-8 home record was their best since 1989-90. … Lakers F Ronny Turiaf, who lost 11 pounds and missed Game 2 with tonsillitis, was back in action, rendering Coby Karl, the son of Nuggets coach George Karl, inactive.

AP-ES-04-26-08 2033EDT