The scene was all too familiar. Too much like last year.

After the events of Sept. 11, a near-universal craving to roll back the calendar exists.

The Magic have actually done it. They have returned to uncertainty and mediocrity. Their progress has stalled out.

"It felt like last year for a little while," Magic head coach Doc Rivers said after the game.

How about all night?

Early in the evening, there was Grant Hill, relentlessly cheerful in spite of everything, limping down the hall toward the locker room with that same left foot in the same sort of plastic boot he was seen in so often last season.

There was Tracy McGrady on the court, trying to carry the Orlando Magic on his shoulders, while triple-teamed, just like he did last year.