The Orlando Magic celebrated its 15th birthday this week. Too bad the NBA playoff rosters don't allow exemptions for potential party invitees. Maybe Shaquille O'Neal or Ben Wallace could have come back and leant a hand. That may be Orlando's best -- some might say only -- hope.

It's tough watching the Magic these days because we know two things: They should be better, but injuries have robbed them of Grant Hill for two seasons. They should be better even without Hill, but injuries to Tracy McGrady and Mike Miller make them even more vulnerable against the killer bees from Charlotte.

	T-Mac's back is killing him (and the Magic, too).

McGrady can't even practice because of a sore back, a situation that this week elicited yet another cure proposal -- a laser that is used on horses. Tracy decided to pass on that one. He played well in spurts in the series opener, an 80-79 victory for Charlotte, but Orlando needs him at full bore and that does not look like it's going to happen anytime soon. McGrady did only light shooting prior to Game 2 and then chilled with Master P, last known in NBA circles for trying to hustle players as an agent with devastatingly ineffective results. Miller, meanwhile, is hobbling around on a sore ankle.

You get the feeling that Orlando knows what's coming down and has known it ever since McGrady sustained yet another back injury so late in the season. This is a team that is being built for the future and relying on McGrady (and, it thought, Hill) to carry the weight until 2003, when someone bigger (Tim Duncan, Jermaine O'Neal, Michael Olowokandi) might fall prey to Temptation Florida, Doc Rivers' charm and the prospect of playing with two (we think) All-Stars.

Toward that end, the Magic announced before the playoffs that ticket prices would remain the same for the postseason. That would have been unprecedented had not Detroit done the same thing earlier. Magic boss Rich DeVos wanted fannies in the seats and thought that price controls were the way to go. The product is just not quite enough these days.

But it's probably too late. This series didn't look good for Orlando the moment the brackets came out. Charlotte is everything Orlando is not and Charlotte is everything that playoff success is all about. The Hornets have size. They have depth. They have experience. They have the ability to win in front of hostile crowds, which they saw 82 times this season.

And, unlike Orlando, the Hornets' players are, for this time of the season, almost robust compared to the gimps from central Florida. There was a brief scare when Jamal Mashburn started vomiting 10 minutes into Game 1 and had to be taken to the hospital. Geez, do you think it was something he ate or that he thought he saw George Shinn in the crowd? After some IV fluids and an overnight stay, he was back at work and will be OK for Game 2.

The underlying Hornets story, of course, makes this series more enjoyable because you have to think that the NBA wants them to go and go quietly before approving the move to New Orleans. Weren't we supposed to get an announcement on that by now? Even though everyone knows it's a done deal, it still hasn't been officially announced. It's like one of those "exploratory committees" that candidates establish before officially entering a race.

Every win magnifies the situation more so -- and this is the time of year when casual Carolina fans, even those who follow NASCAR, might somehow come across a Hornets game while channel surfing during a commercial on the Speed Channel. You still see a lot of empty seats in the Coliseum. You still see no majority owner in the stands (not because he doesn't want to attend, like Celtics owner Paul Gaston, but because it likely would be hazardous to his health to be seen.)

Somehow, the Hornets persevere, which, in itself, is a remarkable story. Somehow the fans -- some fans, anyway -- still show up and cheer for a team that they have to know will be playing elsewhere next year. Maybe they're like parents of high school seniors who are anxious to get as many chances with the child before he or she heads off into the Great Unknown.

	In short, Orlando's best opportunity may have come and gone. McGrady can do only so much. The Magic have no one inside.

But the relocation/fan support/injury links are just those -- sidelights to the real story. The Hornets are all about basketball, at least that is the case for those entrusted with that task. They earned the so-called homecourt advantage in Game 82. They survived, barely, in Game 1, but don't expect to see the same tight, timid bunch from Game 1. And expect to see Mashburn and everything he brings to the table for a good bit longer than the 10 unproductive minutes he played in Game 1.

In short, Orlando's best opportunity may have come and gone. McGrady can do only so much. The Magic have no one inside to play with Elden Campbell and Jamaal Magloire, let alone P.J. Brown. (If Patrick Ewing hadn't retired, he might help.) The remarkable Baron Davis (48 minutes in Game 1 following a coast-to-coast trip to see his grandmother) is too strong and quick for Darrell Armstrong or anyone else Orlando can throw out there.

On paper, it's Mismatch City. Then again, so are many first-round series and, right now, the only ones that have gone two games are both 1-1. That's the Magic's goal, to get out of Charlotte with a split. But even that might not be enough. Just as location is everything in real estate, timing is everything in the playoffs. Orlando couldn't have had it much worse and Charlotte is exactly where it wants to be.

Pat Riley always said that a playoff series only begins when the home team loses a game. The Hornets don't plan on that happening tonight. If by some chance it does, they'll still be unfazed. Going on the road for this bunch amounts to a holiday, which is where they'll probably close this one out and then move on. New Orleans is going to have to wait.

Peter May, who covers the NBA for the Boston Globe, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.