Tracy McGrady was back on the court with his Orlando Magic teammates Wednesday night, but was still coping with the fact the back pain that caused him to miss three games last week will likely linger throughout the season.

McGrady spent last week at the Atlanta Back Clinic, rehabilitating and resting the strained muscles and spasms in his lower back. McGrady injured his back Dec. 16 in Seattle and needed help getting off the team plane after a six-hour flight home. He missed three games last week and 41/2 games in the preseason because of similar back pain.

"Because I don't have that much time to do that kind of therapy all the time I'll probably be playing with pain in my back the rest of the season," said McGrady, the NBA's fifth leading scorer at 26 points per game. "It's definitely not 100 percent now, but it's good enough condition to play and be effective. The therapy was good and I learned some things I never thought existed in terms of stretching."

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Star forward Grant Hill is gone and so, too, are projections of the Magic winning the Eastern Conference. Instead, Orlando is in a fight just to qualify for the playoffs.

For a second consecutive season, Hill is out for the year because of surgery on his nagging left ankle.

Already, the Magic have lost three games in a row twice this season. Orlando entered Wednesday's game just 7-5 at home and 6-11 on the road.

But strangely enough, there is a silver lining to this tumultuous season. Despite having a sub-.500 record, Orlando entered Wednesday's game with the eighth-best record in the pedestrian Eastern Conference. Also, they are just six games back of having the best record in the Conference. And Orlando has already completed both of its West Coast swings and its 17 road games are tied with Charlotte for the most in the NBA.

"We'd much rather be in a different position, but this isn't the end of the world," Magic coach Doc Rivers said. "If a statement has ever meant more it's that misery loves company. That's a great statement in the East right now. I think our record was about the same last year so we can do it again.

"We wish we had a winning record, but I'd say we'll have one by the end of the year."

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Indiana point guard Jamaal Tinsley has emerged as the early favorite to win the NBA's Rookie of the Year award. He is third in the NBA in assists (9.2) and ninth in steals (1.86). He had 14 assists in last Saturday's win in Cleveland and he's had 10 double-doubles so far this season.

That's surprising to a Magic team that passed on Tinsley twice in the draft last summer. Orlando took Steven Hunter with the 15th selection, then opted for point guard Jeryl Sasser with the 22nd pick. Sasser spent the first 28 games of the season on the injured list. He was activated Saturday and Hunter was placed on the list.

"It was tough for us to pass on him. We brought him in for a second workout with the idea of taking him," Rivers said. "It didn't go well. There were just some things that made us uncomfortable. Maybe we put too much stock in those predraft workouts."

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The first 5,000 fans at Wednesday night's game received Patrick Ewing bobblehead dolls.. . . McGrady on Reggie Miller's longevity: "When you shoot nothing but jump shots you're not going to get hurt a lot." . . . Nine of the 29 present NBA head coaches were point guards during their playing days. Two of them -- Rivers and Indiana's Isiah Thomas -- squared off Wednesday night. "As the point guard you are the coach on the floor," Rivers said. "I know I communicate with Darrell (Armstrong) and Troy (Hudson) more than I do with any other of our players. If a point guard can't see it on the floor, your team can't do it."