Rashard Lewis crashed and burned in his return to Seattle Wednesday night, managing just nine points on a woeful 3-for-19 shooting performance.

The Magic's go-to guy fails miserably, so Orlando must have lost, right?

Nope. This isn't your father's Magic team.

There really seems to be something magical going on in Mickey's Kingdom these days, and last night's easy win over a pathetic Sonic squad was just the latest piece of evidence for a team that is now 14-3 – one win shy of matching the best start in franchise history.

If you recall, that 1994-95 version, featuring Shaq and Penny, went to the NBA Finals. The way Orlando is playing right now, comparisons don't seem far fetched.

Having won nine of its past 10, this team has more wins than any other NBA team. A dreaded five-game western road trip? Whatever. The Magic is two-for-two so far, upping its road record to an NBA-best 9-1.

And certainly if Dwight Howard throws down many more efforts like he did last night, this team will win more than its fair share – regardless of whether Lewis is suffering through an offnight or not.

Howard completely took over last night, shaking off his worst offensive performance of the season on Monday with a career game – 39 points, 16 rebounds and five blocks. Seattle's "big men" were no match for Howard, as double teams and even four men in the lane couldn't stop him from enjoying the most points in a game he's ever had.

By getting to the free throw line 20 times, and making 15 of them – including his first eight – Howard was able to eclipse his previous high of 35 points. The main reason Howard has been able to take his offensive game to the next level – he's now averaging 23.5 PPG after scoring 17.6 PPG last season – is his ability to draw fouls. Howard leads the NBA with an average of 11.5 trips to the charity stripe per game.

Give the man 14 double-doubles in 17 games now. After racking up 60 DDs in each of the past two seasons, is Howard is on pace to do it 67 times this year. Sixty-seven double-doubles. Just think about that for a moment.

He nailed 12-of-17 shots, including nine dunks. That's a lot of posters.

Is there a more dominant big man in the game now?

Coach Stan Van Gundy summed it up best when he said "One guy couldn't stop him, two guys couldn't stop him, so they put everybody on him."

And apparently that didn't work either. But not much is working in Emerald City these days. The Sonics have dropped six straight and are still the only team in the association that has yet to win a game at home this season (in fact, they've dropped 11 straight home games dating back to last season). Their 2-14 start matches the worst in franchise history, set in the team's very first season back in 1967-68. Talk about two organizations headed in opposite directions.

While we mull the magic in Mickeyland, let's explore the remainder of the hardwood happenings on the Wednesday that was…

• Just when it appeared Chris Bosh was ready to start rolling, he was hit with another setback Wednesday, forced to sit out the second half with a groin injury, originally suffered in practice on Tuesday. Bosh said that once he gets rest and treatment Thursday, he'll be ready to suit up against the Cavs. If not, the Raps could be in a bit of trouble, especially with Andrea Bargnani leaving last night's game with a knee injury. Look for Kris Humphries to see his first significant minutes in a couple of weeks.



• Tony Parker bounced back from a weak offensive game to record his first double-double of the year last night. In fact, with 29 points, 11 assists and eight boards, he just missed out on his first career triple-double. Parker nailed 12-of-18 and even recorded a rare block. Despite his off game Monday, the man is on a serious roll with 23.2 PPG, 8.4 APG, 5.0 RPG and 53.4 percent shooting over his last five contests. Parker's minutes are up this year, and he's responded with the best offense of his career at 20.5 PPG. Man, if this guy could ever develop an outside game, how good would he be?

Injury Report

A busted noggin suffered Monday night kept Nick Collison out of action last night. As if Seattle's frontcourt wasn't weak enough, now it will be without Collison for the next two games before he's re-evaluated next week. Of course, Collison hasn't really been the answer at center for the Sonics, so he's been getting dropped off his fantasy teams, right, left and center. Kurt Thomas is starting now in Seattle, and looks to be over his hamstring issues with 27 rebounds in the past two games. He won't score for you, but can definitely help on the boards and pitch in with some blocks. Johan Petro returned from his back injury last night, so he may pick up a bit of the slack this week, but the Eiffel Tower is not worth looking at until he begins to see significant minutes.

Tip-Ins: With Keyon Dooling missing the past two games because of a stomach virus, we finally got to see J.J. Redick get some burn, and he responded with his first 11 points of the season. The dude, a sleeper heading into the season, had played just 20 total minutes in five games this year…Jameer Nelson's scoring is down the past couple of games, and while Carlos Arroyo hasn't exactly taken advantage with the points, he did dish a career-high 14 dimes last night, including nine in the second quarter – just one shy of matching Scott Skiles' franchise record for assists in a quarter. Nelson's play has generally been improved this season, and he's really been finding his teammates, but could we suddenly have another PG controversy on our hands in Orlando? Personally, I doubt it, but if Orlando starts to lose some games – and you've got to figure that will happen at some point – it might be worth watching…The Jazz may have some injuries to deal with. Carlos Boozer hurt his ankle in the first half Wednesday, but he played through it, so he should be okay. But this is Boozer we're talking about. Of greater immediate concern is Mehmet Okur. He had to leave in the third quarter with back spasms. He returned to the bench, but did not play for the rest of the evening. With Okur's history of back issues and the fact he admitted that it's been bugging him on and off since training camp, I'd be worried somewhat if I owned him. Keep an eye on this…Yao Ming did his thing last night, sinking 12-of-19 from the floor and 7-of-7 from the line for 31 points to go along with 13 boards. What's with the turnovers, though? Yao has fumbled the ball six times in each of his last two games. Still, the Rockets need to get him this many touches every night. He's only taking 16 shots per game this year, and that's part of the reason why his offense has slipped a bit. There have been too many nights like Monday, when Yao got just 11 touches. That's not enough for a dominant big man…Smush Parker's lousy season got worse on Tuesday when he was out of the lineup after being accused of knocking over a valet stand and grabbing the attendant's arm. If this is true, this would be the first thing Smush has successfully hit this year…Could Wally World be ready to steal Damien Wilkins' job in Seattle? Wilkins is struggling to score lately, and Szczerbiak has put up some big games, including last night when he nailed four treys en route to a 20-point outburst. As discussed above, Seattle is in a dreadful situation, so a shakeup wouldn't hurt. This is a logical place to start…Look for Monta Ellis to remain in the starting five in Golden State after scoring at least 20 points for the fourth time in five games Wednesday. The Warriors have won seven of eight, and Ellis is a big reason why…Travis Outlaw, seeing plenty of PT with Channing Frye being benched last night, exploded for 26 points with seven boards, two assists, two steals, a block and a three-pointer. Outlaw has been seeing more minutes this year, but until recently hasn't done much scoring. With 19 PPG in his past two, you might want to think about picking up this hot hand…Even though his shooting continues to be off – he was just 4-for-16 last night, including only 1-for-8 from downtown – Jamaal Tinsley is playing tremendously right now. He's become a bigger part of the Pacer offense and it's showing in his point totals, with another 15 last night to go along with 10 assists, six rebounds and five steals. Tinsley is absolutely on fire lately, averaging 19.2 PPG, 10 APG, 6.4 RPG and 2.8 SPG in his last five. Sell high? You've got to consider the option given his propensity for missing lots of time…The Bulls snapped a four-game skid on Tuesday, but they are still the worst team in the East. Why? They can't shoot. After a mediocre 45.72 field goal percentage last season, Chicago is by far the worst shooting team in the NBA this year at 38.59 percent. And it's contagious, apparently. You can blame the bench: Thabo Sefolosho (28.8 percent after 42.6 percent last year), Chris Duhon (33.8 percent; 40.8 percent last season), Joakim Noah (the rook is struggling along at 36 percent shooting); and you can blame the starters: Kirk Hinrich (34.6 percent after last year's 44.8 percent), Ben Gordon (36.7 percent; 45.5 percent) and Ben Wallace (37.1 percent; 45.3 percent). Apparently, "Bulls" is not exactly short for Bullseye in the Windy City. Imagine if the Bulls weren't the best offensive rebounding team in the NBA. How bad would things be without all those second chances?

Rob Blackstien runs www.RotoRob.com, a site featuring daily fantasy sports analysis. In addition to his baseball work on the site, he contributes to Rotoworld’s basketball coverage. Rob also writes for CREATiVESPORTS.com, BaseballNotebook.com and has contributed to Rotoman’s Fantasy Baseball Guide and Fantasy Football Guide.

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