Rashard Lewis will make his first -- and only appearance this season -- back in Seattle on Wednesday night when the Magic face the Sonics at KeyArena.

"I started here. I grew as a man here. I was drafted in the second round, but I became an All-Star here in Seattle. I grew with the fans, the community," Lewis said. "There was just a lot of things I was really settled in, my feet were really planted in this city.

"Just watching [the Sonics] sometimes on TV I feel a little jealous I'm not out there on that court with those guys."

Despite their win over the Bobcats, Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy was not happy in the least with his team's effort.

"That's Coach," shooting guard Keith Bogans said. "We didn't play that well. I think guys had too much turkey for Thanksgiving."

Van Gundy complimented Howard and Dooling, saying, "Dwight and Keyon always bring energy. With a lot of guys, we have to wonder."

"They just played worse than we did," he said. "I was happier after the San Antonio game. It's not about watching the scoreboard and our record. It's about building habits. I don't know if we've got that across to them this season."

What upset the coach was his team's inability to put away the game after going ahead by 24. The Bobcats cut the lead in half with two minutes, 26 seconds remaining, and Van Gundy pulled Adonal Foyle and Carlos Arroyo and re-inserted Howard and Nelson, meaning the club's starting lineup had to secure the game.

"There was no message," he said. "When I have the lead, I want to make sure I win the game, and the guys we had on the floor didn't look like they cared too much about winning it, so I made the change. There was no excuse what happened at the end, and if they are going to play like that then they are not going to play."

Heat Coach Pat Riley figured the Orlando Magic would be formidable under his former assistant, Stan Van Gundy. But Riley said he never imagined the Magic would be this good, this early in the season -- Van Gundy or no Van Gundy.

"I think everybody is maybe a little bit surprised about how good they are this early," Riley said of the Magic, which leads the division. "But I'm not totally surprised by it."

Stan Van Gundy will face his old team Miami tonight when the Heat and Magic meet for the first time since Van Gundy took the reigns in Orlando.

Van Gundy, for his part, says it doesn't feel different.

"When we played them in the exhibition season, it was nice to see some of the guys I worked with and kind of wave at them, but there were no real emotions there," he said.

Van Gundy learned at Riley's knee, serving six years as top assistant before getting the chance to be Head Coach of Miami in 2003, while Riley continued as Heat President. He lasted just over two seasons before resigning 21 games into 2005-06, when Riley returned to the sideline.

Both sides insist the decision was mutual, and Van Gundy hasn't wavered on the issue since leaving the Heat. But it was a peculiar parting -- at 112-73, he is still has the franchise's best winning percentage.

The Orlando Magic have been searching for a big man to replace the injured Tony Battie and have found their man.

On Tuesday, the Orlando traded forward Trevor Ariza to the Los Angeles Lakers for forward Brian Cook and guard Maurice Evans.

To make room on the roster, the Magic released forward Bo Outlaw.

The Magic used their $2.6 million injury exemption, from the Tony Battie injury, to make the deal work.

Click here to read RealGM's Grading the Deal

The Orlando Magic have assigned forward Marcin Gortat to the Anaheim Arsenal of the NBA Development League, General Manager Otis Smith announced on Tuesday.  Gortat will continue to be included on the Magic?s roster and will remain on the team?s Inactive List.

Gortat has not appeared in a game this season.  He has been on the Inactive List a total of 11 times and has registered one DNP-CD.  Gortat was selected in the second round (57th overall) of the 2005 NBA Draft.  His rights were acquired by Orlando on draft night (June 28, 2005) in exchange for cash considerations.

Monday, the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard and the Denver Nuggets' Allen Iverson were named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for games played Monday, Nov. 12 through Sunday, Nov. 18.

The Celtics' big three -- and big 3-point attack -- come up short Sunday.

The NBA's best-shooting team, the Celtics found themselves uncharacteristicly down 20 points and still trailing after three quarters. They came back and made it close, but Paul Pierce missed an off-balance jumper with time running out and Orlando dealt Boston (8-1) its first loss, 104-102.

At 21 years old, Dwight Howard has already pushed Shaquille O'Neal out of a spot in the NBA record book.

Howard had 21 points, 19 rebounds and replaced O'Neal as the NBA's youngest player to reach 3,000 rebounds, leading the Orlando Magic to a 95-70 victory over the ice cold and injured New Jersey Nets on Friday night.

"He's amazing," Magic point guard Jameer Nelson said. "Every night he brings it. Every practice he brings it. He is the leader of this team."

Otis Smith said he has not offered the Magic's $2.6 million injury exception -- relief for the season-ending injury to Tony Battie -- to any free-agent big man. He said there have been no serious trade discussions, although he conceded that dealing for a big is the more likely route. He said the Magic have no interest in signing PF Chris Webber, for instance.

"If they don't fit in with what we're doing, why go get them?" Smith said.

Smith said he talked to P.J. Brown's camp before the season started. "I already explored that option," he said. "And P.J. is retired."