TORONTO _ In the hours before Terrence Ross played his first game at the Air Canada Centre since the Toronto Raptors traded him to the Orlando Magic last month, the lanky swingman said he misses a lot about Toronto.
Ross no doubt misses winning games the way the Raptors handled the Magic, 131-112, on Monday night.
DeMar DeRozan scored at will, and the Raptors dominated the Magic's reserves.
The Raptors spoiled Ross' homecoming by making 59 percent of their shots, and DeRozan scored a game-high 36 points on 13-of-21 shooting.
Ross scored 17 points of his own and helped cut a 19-point Raptors lead in the third quarter down to five points before the Raptors delivered an end-of-quarter backbreaker.
Orlando cut Toronto's lead to 94-89 with 12.4 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Raptors regained the momentum immediately. DeRozan sank a pull-up jumper after a Toronto screen forced the Magic to switch Mario Hezonja onto him.
On Orlando's subsequent inbounds pass, Bismack Biyombo tossed the ball lackadaisically toward Aaron Gordon, and the Raptors' Delon Wright intercepted the ball. Wright hoisted a 3-pointer from the left corner just before the end-of-quarter buzzer and swished the shot. The trey extended the Raptors' lead to 99-89.
Raptors guard Norman Powell struck early in the fourth quarter.
He opened the scoring by driving down the center of the lane and throwing down a right-handed dunk. A short while later, Powell caught a pass on the right wing and swished a wide-open 3 pointer. Suddenly, the Raptors led 104-89.
The Raptors' 131 points are a season high by a Magic opponent.
On Feb. 14, the Magic traded Serge Ibaka to the Raptors for Ross and the less favorable of the Raptors' 2017 first-round picks.
Ibaka contributed 16 points and seven rebounds against his former team.
His Raptors (45-29) dominated most of the second quarter.
The Magic held a 42-40 lead, but their bench of D.J. Augustin, C.J. Watson, Jodie Meeks, Hezonja and Biyombo faltered.
Toronto went on a 24-4 run even though Orlando coach Frank Vogel called two full timeouts and one 20-second timeout and made substitutions to try to stop the hemorrhaging.
Nothing worked.
The Raptors made nine of their 10 shot attempts during the stretch. No one inflicted more damage than Powell, who made three 3-point tries during the run.
Powell drained 3s to put Toronto ahead 43-42 and 48-42.
Then, after Hezonja missed a jumper, Ibaka sank a 3-pointer.
The Raptors' momentum accelerated even after Vogel put his starters back into the game.
In a flash, the Magic trailed, 64-46.
Toronto scored 73 first-half points _ the second-highest point total by a Magic opponent in any half this season.
The evening started well for the Magic (27-47).
Ross swished a foul-line jumper on their first possession while he also absorbed a foul from DeRozan.
On the Magic's next trip down the court, Ross made a jumper from 10 feet.
A few minutes later, during the game's first timeout, the Raptors aired a video tribute for Ross on their scoreboard. The tribute began with then-commissioner David Stern announcing the Raptors selected Ross with the eighth overall pick of the 2012 NBA draft. The tribute included scenes from Ross' 51-point game and his All-Star dunk contest championship.
When the video ended, the announced crowd of 19,800 inside the Air Canada Centre gave Ross a standing ovation.
But Ross picked up two first-quarter fouls, which prompted Vogel to exile him to the bench.
In the third quarter, Ross pulled the Magic within 93-85 as he punctuated a fast break with a 360 dunk.
It was one of his best moments of the night.
DeRozan, Powell and the rest of the Raptors made sure the evening didn't get any sweeter for their former teammate.
._Patrick_s_Day_Parade_94380.jpg?w=600)
