TORONTO - Challenged by his coach to be more aggressive, Jameer Nelson responded with a furious fourth quarter.

The St. Joseph's product scored 12 of his 19 points in the final period, including 10 straight at one stretch, and the Orlando Magic beat the Toronto Raptors, 106-94, yesterday to take a three-games-to-one lead in their first-round playoff series.

"As a player, sometimes you start to feel it and I started to feel it in the fourth quarter," Nelson said. "I hit a couple of big shots and my teammates started looking for me."

Rashard Lewis added 27 points and 13 rebounds, and Dwight Howard added 19 points, 16 boards and eight blocks for the Magic.

Chris Bosh set a career playoff high with 39 points and added 15 rebounds for the Raptors, while T.J. Ford had 12 points and 13 assists.

Hawks 102, Celtics 93

ATLANTA - High-flying Josh Smith scored 27 points to lead Atlanta past Boston in Game 3 for its first playoff win of the decade.

Atlanta earned its first playoff win since May 16, 1999, a Game 5 clincher over the Detroit Pistons. The Hawks were swept by New York in the next round, then spent nine years trying to get back to the postseason.

After getting blown out twice in Boston, Smith and the Hawks seemed to take out all their frustrations on a 66-win Celtics team that finished 29 games ahead of them during the regular season.

Smith had five dunks - none better than the last one. After a Boston turnover, Joe Johnson took off down the right side of the court and passed off to Smith breaking down the other wing. He took off a good 10 feet from the basket and slammed it through over Ray Allen.

"It was back like the old days, when Dominique [Wilkins] played," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. "I was there, too, sitting on the bench watching him."

Lakers 102, Nuggets 84

DENVER - Once again, the Nuggets couldn't keep their emotions or Kobe Bryant in check. Bryant scored 22 points and Los Angeles took a three-games-to-none lead in its series by routing a flustered Denver squad.

Game 4 is tomorrow, and the Nuggets are going to have to get more out of Carmelo Anthony and Allen Iverson if they hope to avoid the sweep.

Anthony and Iverson struggled mightily from the floor yesterday, shooting a combined 10 for 38 and finishing with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Anthony also was called for a technical foul, the Nuggets' seventh of the series. The call came during the third quarter, when Denver - which trailed by 53-46 at the half - was outscored by 12 points.