The night couldn't have gone much worse for the Magic or any better for Grant Hill. Unless, that is, Grant learned he had been traded to the Lakers.

Playing in his first NBA game since Thanksgiving, Hill got through it without needing emergency roadside assistance.

Magic fans can exhale. Only 89 to go.

Hill's team needs some right-side tires and some body work, however. The Magic lost to Atlanta by 27 points. Hill came back for this?

Good thing it's only the preseason, where nothing counts except that a star's left ankle appears as sturdy as his right. "I'm still standing," Hill said.

Hill hit his first four shots. He quickly grabbed four rebounds. He stole a pass. He fell hard and bounced up -- smiling.

And he didn't lose his pants. Out of everything Hill had been through to get to Tuesday night, the fear of his drawers falling down was his biggest worry.

"There's no drawstring in my shorts," Hill chuckled, sitting by himself in the locker room before the Magic's brutally ragged 102-75 loss. "I guess they haven't gotten used to me being back yet.

"My pants will probably fall down out there."

Hill kept his pants on, even if no one else could contain their joy over the launch of The Comeback, Act III. The only thing maybe more encouraging was Shawn Kemp getting off the floor to block a shot.

" It was great for Grant," Coach Doc Rivers said. "After Day 3 of camp, I stopped worrying about him."

Hill finished with 10 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes. The only noticeable glitch in his debut: four turnovers. He looked, understandably, jittery and rusty. "I was hyperventilating," he said. "It was good to get that out of the way."

But seeing Hill struggle to shake off the rust is a sight the Magic have been looking forward to since the summer of 2000.

After two false starts, Hill was only too happy to use a preseason game to begin his Magic career in earnest. "I'm happy to be running around," he said. "You don't appreciate it until it's taken away from you. You have the money and the fame, but you still want to hold on to that feeling of being a little kid and playing."

The preseason plan is for him to play 20-25 minutes a game with, as Hill says, "the yellow light flashing." Then, as Rivers says, "Once the season starts, the shackles come off."

Neither Hill nor anyone else who has followed his medical soap opera will have to wait long for The Ankle Stress Test.

The Magic start the season with two sets of back-to-back games, playing four times in five days. There are four back-to-backs in the first three weeks.

Hill's ankle has never felt better, but he's in the dark along with anybody else about its durability. "I've learned not to look too far ahead," he said.

The season is around the corner. The idea is for Hill and Tracy McGrady to become the Boston Celtics South, mimicking Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce. The Celtics won 49 games with those two big scorers and a bunch of spare parts. They reached the Eastern Conference Finals.

"T-Mac and I have to drive the bus," Hill said.

And push it or pull it, if need be. They'll have to cover some of the same warts that have haunted the Magic: no big men and little defense.

One thing's for certain: For the Magic to contend, Hill must play at full throttle once the green flag drops. They won't be easing him into it. There'll be no parade laps.