ORLANDO, Fla. — Portland has faced the NBA's best and broken even.

The Trail Blazers, who played six of their first seven games against teams that had won at least 52 games last season, beat Orlando, 106-99, last night for their third straight win and first on the road.

Brandon Roy scored 27 points to lead the Blazers. Dwight Howard, battling a chest cold, had 29 points and a season-high 19 rebounds. Hedo Turkoglu added 35 points for the Magic, who finished their homestand 4-1.

Point guard Steve Blake and reserve Travis Outlaw had 20 apiece as Portland's bench outscored Orlando's 40-12.

Portland had opened with the Lakers, Spurs, Suns, Jazz and Rockets, who had all won at least 54 games last season. Including the 52-win Magic, the Blazers are 3-3 in those games.

Trailing 73-72 entering the final period, Portland scored the first 11 points of the fourth quarter, fueled by two 3-pointers by Rudy Fernandez. He finished with 16 points.

The Trail Blazers held a 91-79 lead with 3:55 left before Turkoglu did his best to keep Orlando close, scoring 11 of their next 13 points. His 3-pointer cut it to 98-92 with 50 seconds left, but the Blazers were 8-for-10 from the foul line after that to seal the victory.

"This has been part of the reason we've lost our first couple games, not being able to finish games off," said Blazers coach Nate McMillan. "Not only did I talk about, but they talked about winning the third and fourth quarter and getting stronger down the stretch."

CELTICS 94, RAPTORS 87

BOSTON — Paul Pierce scored 22 of his 36 points in the fourth quarter to lead Boston over Toronto. Kevin Garnett added 21 points and 10 rebounds, and Ray Allen had 19 points for the Celtics. Boston scored 58 points in the second half after getting just 36 in the opening 24 minutes. Jermaine O'Neal led the Raptors with 23 points and 11 rebounds.

HEAT 99, NETS 94

MIAMI — Dwyane Wade scored 19 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter, and Miami rallied from a 10-point deficit midway through the final quarter to beat New Jersey. Michael Beasley scored 19 points and Daequan Cook added 15 for the Heat, who are 3-0 at home for the first time since the 1999-2000 season.

PACERS 107, THUNDER 99

INDIANAPOLIS — T.J. Ford had 24 points and 10 assists to help Indiana beat Oklahoma City. Ford scored 11 points in the final period as Indiana pulled away. Danny Granger added 20 points and seven rebounds for the Pacers, who won their second straight.

SUNS 107, GRIZZLIES 102

PHOENIX — Leandro Barbosa scored 16 of his team-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, including the go-ahead 3-pointer with 43.8 seconds left, as Phoenix withstood a furious fourth-quarter rally to beat Memphis.

ELSEWHERE

Nuggets: Denver waived Antonio McDyess yesterday, one week after obtaining him from Detroit along with Chauncey Billups and Cheikh Samb for Allen Iverson. The move was expected as Denver tries to cut costs. The Pistons would welcome McDyess back, but they cannot sign him for 30 days.

Jazz: Utah center Mehmet Okur is returning to his home country of Turkey to deal with an illness in his family. The Jazz said yesterday they have excused Okur so he can be with his family. No other details were released.