For once, it was different.
For once, the Orlando Magic had all the fun.
For once, fans could see Shaquille O'Neal in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform and feel a different sorrow.
Sorrow for O'Neal, not themselves.
As the season wears on, O'Neal will reclaim his dominance, and the Lakers will become the Lakers again. And this city will frown again. Wednesday, though, was a night for the new, not the old.
The Magic beat the three-time defending champion Lakers 112-102 before an announced sellout crowd of 17,283 at TD Waterhouse Centre, the largest in franchise history.
Tracy McGrady is the star here now, and maybe after this game, those still hibernating and depressed will realize it.
Weakened by a stomach virus, McGrady was courageous and determined as he led the Magic (9-7) to their first victory over Shaq and the Lakers since Nick Anderson hit a dramatic game-winning shot on Feb. 22, 1998. The Lakers (5-11) had beaten Orlando seven straight times.
McGrady scored 38 points and added nine assists and six rebounds. He won an entertaining duel with Lakers star Kobe Bryant with an array of fakes, jumpers and timely defensive stops.
Bryant, who played with a bruised left shin, finished with 38 points and 10 rebounds, but he could not stop McGrady when it mattered.
"He's going to get his," McGrady said of the matchup. "I'm going to get mine."
When McGrady was done getting his, he had this arena loud again. Fans were mocking Bryant, chanting, "KO-BE! KO-BE!"1
After Shawn Kemp grabbed a rebound and muscled a layup between two defenders for a 106-96 lead, ears tingled because of the noise.
The outcome was no longer in question with a minute left, but many fans stayed instead of rushing to beat traffic.
The party was on.
"That's the most I've seen them into a game, excluding the playoffs," forward Pat Garrity said of the record-setting crowd.
This city may not get over losing O'Neal to the Lakers, a move that shifted the balance of power in the NBA, but it isn't doing so badly after all.
The Lakers' struggles continue. It was their second loss in a row. Even with O'Neal, who had 28 points and nine rebounds, back in the lineup, they remain far from the team that has dominated the league.
Mike Miller made his third consecutive start and had 22 points as the Magic went to the anticipated big lineup of McGrady, Miller and Grant Hill on the perimeter. Hill finished with nine points and 10 rebounds, but he sat out the fourth quarter. Back in a sixth-man role, Armstrong had 14 points.
Between O'Neal's domination and Andrew DeClercq's hustle, McGrady and Bryant had some thrilling moments.
Late in the second quarter, they provided exquisite back-to-back highlights. McGrady backed down Bryant, faked right, lost him, turned left and hit an 8-foot fadeaway. On the next possession, Bryant drove on McGrady for a dunk and then drew a technical for hanging on the rim.
Bryant's message was clear.
Let's get it on.
McGrady responded to the challenge.
"They went at it," Hill said. "They were going at it, probably, like high-schoolers there for a while. It was definitely fun."
Bryant, who hates losing, only could sneer and try to deflect the Kobe/T-Mac talk.
"It wasn't special at all," Bryant said.
On this night, in this city, it was.