Orlando Magic have become a real threat in the East

And now, the Magic's Mystery Tour.

Lakerdom is gearing up for Monday's game here with Cleveland, the latest in a series of, quote, possible Finals previews, unquote, but don't look now, there's one tonight too.

With less fanfare, or none, the Lakers are about to play the NBA's hottest team, which doesn't happen to have LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce or Ray Allen.

This team isn't part of the old Lakers-Celtics rivalry or the new Celtics-Cavaliers rivalry, or any rivalry outside Florida.

The last time it got past the second round of the playoffs, Shaquille O'Neal played there. It was so long ago, Shaq hadn't even heard of Kobe, although he was taking an increasingly dimmer view of Penny Hardaway.

Aw, you guessed it.

It's the Orlando Magic, which isn't mentioned in the same breath with the Lakers, Celtics and Cavaliers, but is right there with them at 31-8, which is even more impressive when you consider the Magic started 0-2.

This tour has been Magical, all right. After starting the trip with a win in San Antonio, the Magic dropped an NBA-record 23 three-pointers on the Kings in a 139-107 rout.

Even those pesky pundits have noticed. ESPN's Jeff Van Gundy said he was revising his earlier view that the Magic wasn't a serious contender.

Van Gundy is the brother of Orlando Coach Stan Van Gundy, so this is what you'd call a tough audience.

"What most of the people who are coaches or have been coaches in the league say, the record is what counts," said Stan at his team's practice Thursday in Hawthorne.

"That's what you're judged by. We could talk about subjective stuff and matchups and everything else, but 31-8 is 31-8.

"Cut it however you want, it's 31-8. Unlike some teams, we haven't played an inordinate number of home games. We haven't played five more games at home. As a matter of fact, by the end of the trip, we'll have played three more away.

"We're 31-8. Are we that good? Time will tell."

Actually, the Lakers have played six more at home. With their "road" game against the Clippers, they've been in Staples Center for 23 of 38 games.

But do people go around saying the Lakers have had a soft schedule?

N-o-o-o-o.

Dwight Howard, the Magic's 23-year-old prodigy, now blossoming into a superstar, tried telling his Olympics teammates in China how good the Magic would be.

They were nice enough to listen politely, for a second or two.