ORLANDO, Fla. -- Healthy or not, Tracy McGrady can't see himself missing the start of the NBA playoffs.

Orlando's All-Star guard tested his ailing back in practice Friday, then pronounced himself ready to play in Game 1 of the Magic's best-of-five series against the Charlotte Hornets.

"My back's feeling a little better," though not 100 percent, McGrady said before the team flew to Charlotte, where the first two games will be played Saturday and Tuesday night.

"To be honest, I'm tired of talking about it. It gets tight on me when I stop, so I try to keep moving. At practice, it felt OK, then we had a break and it tightened up on me. If I have to play all 48 minutes to keep it going, then I will. Other than that, I'll just wait and see."

Coach Doc Rivers said forward Mike Miller, sidelined much of the past month with a sprained left ankle, also will play.

"Tracy's back seems to be OK. He's going to start anyway and we'll see what happens," Rivers said.

"I'd like to say he's going to be great in the game, but I doubt that's going to happen. Great may be too much to ask. Either way, he's starting and hopefully he's able to make a difference for us. Great athletes rise to the occasion."

Rivers decided against playing McGrady in Wednesday night's regular-season finale against Miami, and a loss to the Heat cost Orlando homecourt advantage in the first round.

Instead, the Hornets earned the No. 4 seed, and the Magic dropped to No. 5.

Rivers doesn't regret the move. It's more important to have a healthy McGrady for the entire playoffs than playing the first two games at home against Charlotte.

McGrady averaged 25.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists and 1.5 steals this season.

"He does everything for your basketball team. He might be our best rebounder. He could be our best passer. He is our best playmaker and he is definitely our best scorer," Rivers said.

"When you have one guy who is best in all those categories that usually means he's a great player and he is. And he's young. It's scary to think that Tracy's 22-years-old, and in five years he'll be in his prime."

The Hornets won three of four games between the teams during the regular season and enter the postseason with some concerns of their own.

Forward P.J. Brown sprained his left ankle against Miami on Tuesday night, and All-Star guard Baron Davis missed practice the past two days after flying home to Los Angeles to be with his grandmother, who suffered a stroke last week.

Brown participated in portions of Friday's workout and plans to start Saturday night.

"I won't be 100 percent. ... I'll be out there and will do my best," Brown said.

Charlotte coach Paul Silas doesn't feel that Davis, who's expected to rejoin the team for a shootaround Saturday morning, will be hindered by missing a couple of practices.

"Not as much as if I didn't let him go. His mind would not have been right," Silas said. "I have to credit my son (assistant coach Stephen Silas) for being smarter than me. He was the one who suggested I make that move, and I'm glad I did. I've talked to him and he accomplished a lot there."

While Rivers was optimistic about how McGrady's back will respond, he seemed less certain about Miller, whose outside shooting could make a difference in the series.

"He's going to play. If he can't make it after he's in there, then we'll go in another direction. I don't know what that direction is right now. I always worry about shooters when they hurt their feet. They can't push off of it and it takes away from everything."

McGrady, who averaged 33.8 points, 6.5 rebounds and 8.3 assists in the playoffs last year, said one of the keys to Game 1 will be getting off to a solid start.

"I think we can compete up there, but we don't have a lot of room for errors," the All-Star guard said. "We need to stay with them and not get in a situation where we have to come back and leave our game."