Fred VanVleet leads the way as Raptors remain unbeaten in the bubble, defeating Magic 109-99

Open this photo in gallery:

The Toronto Raptors remain undefeated inside the NBA bubble after holding off an Orlando Magic squad fighting hard for its playoff life.

The Raps (49-18) strengthened their hold on the No.2 spot in the Eastern Conference as they picked up a third straight win in Orlando – 109-99 -- with Fred VanVleet’s 21 points and 10 assists leading the way. Pascal Siakam added 15, Norman Powell added 14, Marc Gasol 13, OG Anunoby 12.

Still there were some troubling things for the defending NBA champs too – like Pascal Siakam committing seven turnovers, and the Raps letting a 24-point lead deteriorate.

The Magic (32-37) – Toronto’s first-round playoff opponent last year – have a tentative grip on the No.8 spot in the East, still working to lock up a spot in the upcoming playoffs.

Orlando began the night without two of its key players: Jonathan Isaac (torn ACL) and Michael Carter-Williams (left foot). Then Aaron Gordon left the game with a hamstring injury after a gruesome fall.

The Raptors were very active defensively off the tip. They held the Magic to a measly 11 points on 25 percent shooting in a dominant first quarter.

VanVleet said the team’s strong defensive mindset comes from the tone set by Coach Nick Nurse.

“The coaching staff sets the tone and then it’s just a collection of what kind of guys you’ve got, like what is your character like? Do you have defensive-minded guys? Do you have guys who are pissed off when they get scored on?,” said VanVleet. “So when guys are watching the game you can tell when a guy’s not on the same page as everybody else, it looks bad, and guys feel that, and you don’t want to be that guy ever on the court.”

For yet another game, Anunoby showed his massive improvement for Toronto. He kept showing his penchant for blocked shots. He revealed more of his ever-growing repertoire of finishing moves. He had a flashy reverse dunk. He used a silky spin move that eluded both Terrence Ross and Nikola Vucevic before finishing at the rim. He decisively took Ross off the dribble. Then there was his an alley-oop dunk off a sweet Lowry pass – one that would have made a Scotiabank Arena crowd erupt in ear-deafening noise had it taken place at a home game in Toronto.

Lowry, sporting bright rainbow-coloured sneakers, found spots to hit deep threes. He got his body in place in front of Aaron Gordon to draw his 33rd charge this season – an NBA-best.

By half-time it was looking like a blowout. The Raps lead 55-35, the least points they have allowed any opponent in a half this season.

Even despite that massive lead, Lowry leapt aggressively into the air on Orlando’s final in-bounds play of the half, colliding with Magic point guard D.J Austin to deny him a shot.

The Magic returned to the floor energetic, while the Raps came out sloppy. Their bench was out-scoring Toronto’s. Turnovers were a problem. In a flash, that hefty lead was chopped in half.

The Raps kept it from slipping away. Gasol was sharp, scoring inside the hitting threes too. The bench picked it up, especially the rebounding from Serge Ibaka (11 points, nine rebounds). Powell had his best game yet in the bubble.

Toronto was able to hold Orlando All-Star big man Nikola Vucevic to 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting with nine boards, thanks mainly to Gasol and Ibaka.

“We obviously weren’t as energetic and alert, etc., in the second half,” said Raptors Coach Nick Nurse. “But I was super impressed with the first half, I ain’t tripping about the second half.”

Only two teams remain undefeated in their seeding games, the Raptors and Indiana Pacers.

The Raptors have five more seeding games to go. They have a highly-anticipated game against the East’s third-place team on Friday – the Boston Celtics. It will be the fourth and final meeting between the two teams. The Celtics lead that season-series (2-1).

Although the playoff games will all take place within the Orlando bubble, Nurse sees value in the home-court advantage that comes with earning a high seed. The NBA is changing the in-game production as the days go by, and he is curious to see how they might make the arena feel like a home game, using things like the digital fans.

“I’m not sure the home court thing won’t be a little bit of an advantage, maybe. It seems like they’re tweaking a little bit more and more as they go here in the games, as they’re learning things about how to put the game on in this setting,” said Nurse. “We’re seeing familiar faces on those screens, and who knows what it’ll evolve to here two months from now. So I don’t want to discount the home court thing quite yet.”