Heading West: Magic look to continue road success

Stan Van Gundy was only half-kidding when he lamented after his Orlando Magic defeated New York this week that it was time to get "back on the road after this long homestand."

Actually, it was just a one-game homestand. And that's not necessarily a bad thing for Orlando.

The Magic have won six straight road games and are in the middle of stretch where they play seven of eight away from home. They head to the West Coast to start a four-game swing Saturday at Golden State, the type of trip that can often spell trouble for NBA teams.

The Magic just haven't been one of them lately.

Orlando (15-4) catapulted into contenders with a winning streak out West last year, and it can tie its franchise record for consecutive road wins against the Warriors.

"Winning on the road is very difficult, but we've had some success there," Van Gundy said. "I know our guys have confidence, but we've got to continue to raise our level of play and not get complacent or cocky about what's going on. Things in this league can turn very, very quickly if you let down."

Heading West wasn't a problem for the Magic last season.

They emerged in the Eastern Conference a year ago by sweeping a four-game trip against the Los Angeles Lakers, San Antonio, Denver and Sacramento. Orlando went 4-1 on its other West Coast trip, with the lone loss at Phoenix.

The Magic have bigger goals now.

After losing in the finals to the Lakers, the Magic have made it a priority to start this season fast. They became the league's first 15-game winner with a win over the Knicks on Wednesday and want to start pulling away from Boston and Cleveland on this trip.

"We take a lot of pride in it. Coach has been saying let's get on top and stay on top because building a cushion for ourselves could really help in the long run," forward Rashard Lewis said. "We want to get our division and we're trying to win the Eastern Conference, too."

Maybe even more. But this isn't exactly the toughest stretch for the Magic.

They should be favored in games at Golden State, against the Los Angeles Clippers and at Utah. Their most difficult test will come at Phoenix, where point guard Steve Nash has had big games against Orlando.

No matter where they play, the Magic haven't had much trouble.

They've become one of the best road teams in the league, already 8-2 outside Orlando this season. The Magic were tied with Cleveland and Boston for the second-best road record last year at 27-14, behind only the eventual champion Lakers (29-12).

Orlando also had big road wins in the playoffs during its surprising run to the finals. The Magic eliminated the Celtics in Game 7 at Boston, finished off the 76ers in Philadelphia in the first round and opened the conference finals with a win at Cleveland.

Being the best road team in the NBA this season is one of the Magic's goals.

"This team really wants to be great," center Dwight Howard said. "You know we're improving in a lot of different areas and it's going to continue to if we're going to be a great team. And I think this team right here wants nothing but to be the best."

Orlando views this trip as a chance to get a head start on other contenders in the East.

After this stretch of road games, the Magic will play seven of their next eight at home against teams with less than stellar records. Only their Christmas Day matchup against Boston will pose a major challenge during that homestand, making this trip all the more important.

"We love being out on the road together," Howard said. "To us, being on the road is like being at home."