Schedule miseries

This back-to-back set of games -- at home Monday against Seattle and in San Antonio tonight -- is the one part of the schedule Magic Coach Doc Rivers believes should have been changed by the NBA.

Normally in back-to-back sets, both games are in the same conference, which cuts down on travel distance. The Magic complained to the league, asking for a change after getting the first draft of the schedule before it became official.

"I think this is ridiculous," Rivers said Monday. "Just ridiculous. Sure, we tried to get it changed, but you know how that usually works."

Tough assignment

Horace Grant will be seeing one of his toughest matchups of the season in San Antonio when he plays against power forward Tim Duncan.

While with the Lakers last season, Grant faced Duncan in the Western Conference finals, and although the Lakers won in a sweep, Grant struggled with his matchup. Duncan had 28 points and 15 rebounds in Game 1, then had 40 points and 13 rebounds in Game 2.