By Walter Dubowec

“This is the loudest building I’ve ever been in,” said Chris Bosh after the Raptors defeated the Orlando Magic by the score of 108-94 in Game 3 at the Air Canada Centre.

Like we’ve been saying for weeks, if the Raptors hold up their end of the bargain and play hard, then the Toronto Raptors faithful will do their part as well or better than any fans in the NBA. The ACC fans were definitely Red-y to rock on Wednesday night.

The Sea of Red was back and the decibel count went through the roof for a full 2-1/2 hours!

                

Jamario Moon knew it, too. "I didn't know this place could get this loud. I could feel the court shaking a little bit." I'm sure Jamario never heard noise like that before!

Did the raucous crowd affect the Magic? Did the mocking chants of "H-o-o-o-w-w-w-a-a-r-r-d-d" throw off Superman? Absolutely!

"It was like us against the world,'' Dwight Howard said after the game. "What can I do? They think Superman sucks. I'll just show them that Superman doesn't suck." While Howard played well, his numbers were down from the first two games.

Even SI.com noticed the effect the wild crowd of 20,023 had on the outcome of the game.

“The Raptors owe some serious props to the red-clad, flag-waving Air Canada Centre crowd, a lively and organized assembly which maintained a high-decibel level and gave their players the best home-court advantage they could possibly expect. The atmosphere resembled a European soccer match during stretches -- somewhat appropriate given Toronto's melting-pot makeup -- with the fans singing and chanting and standing the entire time while rooting their players to victory.”

Jose Calderon's father, a former Spanish League star was at the ACC to experience the game. This is how he described the crowd to Spanish newspaper Marca:

"It's quite different watching games live or analyzing from home. I travelled to Toronto and I'm impressed with all that's around a playoff game. ACC was red, everybody was wearing Raptors shirts, they didn't stopped chanting, putting pressure on the opponent... It looked like a classic European basketball game more than an NBA game."

The crowd did not go unnoticed by the Sam Mitchell, either. "It's tough to play in an environment like that," he said of being the visitor. The Raptors felt the crowd's presence, "it makes you keep digging a little deeper, no matter how tired you get."

Jamario Moon summed it up perfectly, “Best fans in the NBA.”

Jamario, we promise that Saturday's crowd will be just as crazy, if not crazier!