Jose Calderon, left, gets a little love from Carlos Delfino in Toronto's 106-90 win. (Adrian Wyld/Canadian Press)

The scarlet shirts given out to the fans at the Air Canada Centre said "I am Red-Y for Raptors," and after a few minutes it became clear the Toronto Raptors were just as ready for the Orlando Magic.

None more than T.J. Ford, whose inclusion in the starting lineup had been the source of much chat on local sports talk shows after two tough outings.

Well, shut your mouth, at least for now, because Ford went off for 21 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals to lead the Raptors to a 106-90 victory in a must-win Game 3 of their Eastern Conference preliminary series.

With the victory, Toronto now trails 2-1 in the best-of-seven, looking forward to a Saturday afternoon Game 4 at the Air Canada Centre. They also showed they can start fast, after two horrible first quarters in the previous games,

This was a case of pick your poison for Magic coach Stan Van Gundy, who watched both Raptor point guards school his own people from start to finish.

Jose Calderon, subbing in and out for Ford, had 18 points on top of seven boards and a game leading 12 helpers.

For those keeping score at home, that would be 39 points, 12 rebounds and 15 assists from Ford and Calderon.

Chris Bosh, who couldn't really get going all night, had 15 (14 in the second half) for Toronto.

"My whole message to T.J. was if they are going to let you shoot the ball in the first quarter, you have to step up and shoot the ball," said coach Sam Mitchell. "This game was a reminder of how good those two [Ford and Calderon] can be when they are both on their game."

Hedo Turkoglu led Orlando with 24 points, while Dwight Howard, dominant in the first two games of the series in Florida, had 19 and 12 rebounds. Rashard Lewis also had 19 for the Magic.

Orlando battles back

Trailing by 21 at the half, Orlando gave it the old college try, chipping away by taking advantage of some ragged, rugged play and officiating that had both coaches scratching their heads at times.

Lewis was especially effective, potting 12 points, while Hedo Turkoglu contributed seven as the Magic got to within 11 at 80-69.

Howard, meanwhile, was starting to pile up the fouls, ending the quarter with three.

Toronto's shooting started to go cold as the average dropped from 52 per cent at the half to 46 after three.

Strong at both ends

Using strong defence and offensive hustle, Toronto went on an early 16-3 run and had an 18-9 lead by the time Van Gundy took a timeout halfway through the first quarter.

Ford had seven of those points.

Orlando was getting all of its offence through Howard in the opening period, as he scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds to keep the Magic in the game, trailing 28-20 after a dozen minutes.

Toronto spread the wealth around, with Jamario Moon, back in the starting lineup, popping for eight points and five rebounds, Ford and Anthony Parker getting seven each as the Raptors shot 52.2 per cent to the Magic's 37.5.

Bosh had nothing.

Moon was terrific in the first half, grabbing a rebound here, dropping a put-back there, stealing a pass, hitting a key three halfway through the second quarter as Toronto built a 15-point lead.

He was Ford tough

After Calderon ran up nine points and four assists in 10 excellent minutes off the bench, Ford re-entered at the six-minute mark of the second quarter and went nuts, practically embarrassing Carlos Arroyo on the way to 10 of the final 15 Toronto points of the half.

Into the dressing room (where Calderon did what he always does — handed out drinks and towels to all his teammates), Toronto led 61-40 on 52.4 per cent shooting.

Moon had 11 in the half, plus nine rebounds and three assists. And Bosh? One point.

Howard had 15 points and seven boards in the first 24 minutes but the team turned the ball over 10 times.