This is the part of the season the Orlando Magic have been waiting for since the schedule came out. In spite of an ankle injury that has landed Mike Miller on the injured list, the Magic believe the worst is over. In regard to the schedule, that is certainly true.

"I think we're in a good position because we have so many home games (left). This is the time of year when you've got to win at home," said Pat Garrity.

The Magic stand sixth in the Eastern Conference. But among the 10 teams tightly packed in the competition for the last seven playoff berths, the Magic may have the most favorable sched ule. Twelve of their remaining 19 games will be at at home, where they have won six straight.

"Hopefully we can win at home and split on the road," said Tracy McGrady. "Everything is so tight in the East right now that a few wins would move us up to the fourth spot, or a few losses could push us to the seventh spot."

Seventh is where the Magic finished last season before losing to Milwaukee in the first round.

"We think we can get four, maybe three," said Monty Williams. "Realistically, maybe we can get to that third spot because other teams haven't broken away. If we were seven or eight games away from the third spot, it would be out of the question."

The Magic are only three games out of second place and only four games ahead of 11th.

"If you lose two games in the East and we win two, we can gain big-time spots," Williams noted.

The immediate concern is replacing the scoring of Miller, Orlando's second-leading scorer at 15.8 points per game. He sprained his left ankle and bruised the bone Friday night. Early estimates were that Miller will miss three weeks.

With his three-point accuracy and aggressive driving, Miller has become enough of a threat to take defensive attention away from McGrady. The Magic will miss him at some point.

"It's tougher, there's no doubt about that," said Coach Doc Rivers. "But I'm tired of changing goals because a guy's injured. We've done that once (with Grant Hill).

"The one thing we can't do is set five-game goals. We have to take it one at a time until Mike gets back, and then you can set larger goals."

Unless it is McGrady, the Magic figure they can adjust to the loss of any player for a few games.

"We're used to it. Guys have gone down since I've been here," said Williams, who will start at small forward until Miller returns. "I think the guys off the bench have a great opportunity because other teams don't pay much attention to us. We'll just take what we can get.

"This is the time of year when guys start going down. The teams that aren't used to filling in for those guys are gonna struggle. I think that's where we have an advantage"

Darrell Armstrong, who will be asked to fill some of the scoring void, prefers to put a positive twist on Miller's hiatus.