A sellout crowd returned to Amway Arena to welcome back the Eastern Conference Champion Orlando Magic on Wednesday night. The only person missing was forward Rashard Lewis due to suspension. The good news for the home team though was that Lewis wasn’t really missed all that much in a 120-106 thumping of the Philadelphia 76ers.

The last time these two teams faced off the opening round of the playoffs were underway a season ago, which Orlando went on to win in six games. This time around the Magic showed off their depth by building a 70-47 led by halftime thanks in large part to the new additions they made in the offseason.

But if on the surface this victory looked like a grand opening to a new season, don’t tell that to head coach Stan Van Gundy. Despite running the 76ers into the ground, he was not overly impressed with the defensive effort turned in during the first and final quarters from his team.

“I would like to see us play 48 minutes rather than 36 and I would like to see us make a consistent defensive effort,” said Van Gundy afterwards.

It’s easy to shrug such a comment off as a typical response from a guy that is always looking for something to coach, but the message is that on nights where the ball doesn’t find the net as easily as it did against Philadelphia the Magic must rely on their defensive toughness if they expect to get back to the NBA Finals.

For the game, the 76ers shot 50 percent from the field, went to the foul line 30 times and forced Orlando into 17 turnovers.

“I just know that if we don’t shoot the ball as well as we did (tonight) we’ll struggle to win,” said Van Gundy.

– Pick a number, any number –

Dwight Howard hit half of his free throw attempts and led the Magic with 21 points, 15 rebounds, 2 blocks and 2 assists, but it was Jason Williams who turned in the most impressive stat line on Opening Night.

After a year away from the game Williams made 4 of 5 shots from the field (3-for-4 from beyond the arc and 4-for-4 from the free throw line) while dishing out 5 assists and scoring 15 points in 23 minutes of work. On the downside, he turned the ball over a team-high three times, much to Van Gundy’s chagrin.

“When the games are close and he’s in big situations he plays real solid basketball,” said Van Gundy of Williams following the game. “With a lead, he tends to get careless with the ball.”

But he also provided a nice jolt to the offense. The Magic shot just under 56 percent from the three-point line (16 of 29) as second-year forward Ryan Anderson drained four on seven attempts. Orlando also made 14 of 17 attempts from the free throw line in the win while Jameer Nelson dished out 6 assists, scored 7 points and recorded 2 steals.

– The other side of the stat sheet –

The one guy wearing the Philadelphia jersey that could not be stopped or slowed down by the Magic was post player Marreesse Speights, who scored a career-high 26 points on 10-for-11 shooting and pulled down 5 rebounds.

“We just couldn’t guard him,” said Van Gundy matter-of-factly. “Everybody else, until the fourth quarter, I thought we did a decent job (with). But not on him.”

– That’s what Van Gundy said –

About the mediocre fourth-quarter effort from the Magic as they held a big lead down the stretch: “Human nature is you’re up 31 points and it’s easier to just sort of cruise through it than to really put in an effort,” he said. “But human nature’s one of the things in any endeavor that you’re trying to overcome to be great. (Human nature) is to be mediocre, it’s to get by, get a “C”, to do just enough. We want to build better habits than that.”

– Taking road trips –

Next up for the Magic is a reunion with members of last season’s NBA Finals team. Orlando will meet up with Courtney Lee, Rafer Alston and Tony Battie in New Jersey on Friday before running into Hedo Turkoglu in Toronto on Sunday.

“Nothing but great respect and appreciation on my part. Those guys did a lot for our team, our organization and obviously for me as a coach,” said Van Gundy of those former players. “It’ll be different seeing them on the other side, especially this early in the year.”

Those two stops will be a homecoming of sorts for Vince Carter, who spent over six seasons with the Raptors (where he is the leading scorer in franchise history) and over four seasons with the Nets. Anderson was drafted by New jersey a year ago and guard Anthony Johnson played on the back-to-back Eastern Conference title teams with the Nets when they advanced to the NBA Finals in 2002 and 2003. The Magic will round out their first road trip of the season on Tuesday at Detroit.

– Upcoming at Amway –

On Wednesday, Nov. 4 Orlando returns to town to take on former Cypress Creek High School standout Amar’e Stoudemire, former Magic player Grant Hill, all-star Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns at 7 p.m. A new-look Pistons squad will then be in town on Friday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.

–– More Orlando Magic Coverage ––

– Fran Blinebury at NBA.com

– Zach McCann at Orlando Magic Daily

– Tim Povtak at Fanhouse

– Andrew Melnick at Howard the Dunk

– Don VanDemark at Magical Hoops

– Team page at HoopsWorld

– Local newspaper links at Third Quarter Collapse

– Video and recap at Bright House Sports Network