Last season Gortat was treated like a true European project, appeared in only six games and even had a five-game assignment in the NBA Development League as Dwight Howard's understudy.

Fast forward to the present, and Gortat has more than tripled his appearances this season (22) and even added his first NBA starts when Howard sat out two games last month.

"I don't know if we know what his ceiling is yet," Coach Stan Van Gundy said. "We had to talk about it actually this summer."

Van Gundy was referring to the back-and-forth discussions that went on in July while they were evaluating Gortat during his second straight summer-league assignment.

"It wound up being us going with the half of our thought process that thought he can play in the NBA successfully," Van Gundy said. "And he's had a big jump."

So much so that Magic General Manager Otis Smith also decided not to send him to the team's D-League affiliate.

In his two games relieving Howard last month, Gortat posted career-best efforts. He had career highs of 16 points and 13 rebounds on Dec. 15 against Golden State. That came just two days after he blocked a career-high five shots against Utah.

"As long as Coach Van Gundy continues to trust and believe in me, I'm going to try to pay him back and put in numbers as much as I can," Gortat said. "So far everything had been up and down.

"Training camp was pretty bad for me this year. The first couple of games I didn't play. You don't want to say it, but it was almost his gift from the gods when Dwight got injured for a bit."

However he might have gotten that opportunity, Gortat said he went in with the mind-set of maximizing it.

"It gave me a chance to shine," Gortat said. "I'm just thankful to have the guys around me that have helped me and kept telling me to be ready. They told me this day might come and I don't want to lose my chance. I'm just happy that I was ready and I had some luck, too."

Van Gundy said that Magic assistant coach Brendan Malone has been like a Basketball father for Gortat and his development. Malone, he said, helped extensively in helping Gortat fine-tune some of his raw skills.

"I give the players all kinds of credit for the strides they make," Van Gundy said. "But it means a lot when the players and coaches have a relationship."

Gortat said his focus is on improving every time he gets on the court, especially in games.

Since his performances against the Jazz and the Warriors he has had added a 14-point, 7-rebound game against Chicago on New Year's Eve and an 8-point, 12-rebound game in the Magic's blowout win over Atlanta last Friday.

His future role on the roster is still being written, but Gortat said he feels a lot more secure about where he could be heading in his NBA career.

"I think I'm playing with a lot of confidence," he said. "But I also think I've improved my defense and can participate in the team defense. And I'm also prepared more physically.

"I had games before where I could go for 15 minutes on offense and not touch the ball. Now to know that I can get in the game and score 10 points -- it feels good."

Numbers game 4-7

The Boston Celtics' record since they started the season with a league-best 27-2 record. The Celtics snapped a four-game losing streak with a 94-88 victory against Toronto on Sunday, then won again Monday.

11

The number of games the L.A. Clippers have lost in a row after a 109-103 loss to Phoenix on Sunday. It is the Clippers' longest losing skid since a 13-game stretch late in the 2003-04.

$18 mil.

The amount of money left on Darius Miles' contract with the Portland Trail Blazers that they will be forced to pay if the recent Memphis signee plays two more games this season. Miles, recovering from major knee surgery, recently signed a 10-day contract with the Grizzlies. The Blazers sent a letter to the league's other 29 teams last week threatening legal action against any team that lets him play those games.

Top five

The NBA released its fourth all-star balloting returns last week. Here is a look at the latest overall top-five vote-getters:

*Dwight Howard (Magic): 2,102,368

*LeBron James (Cavs): 1,940,162

*Kobe Bryant (Lakers): 1,903,798

*Dwyane Wade (Heat): 1,818,717

*Yao Ming (Rockets): 1,758,499

Line of the week

36 points, 13 assists

By L.A. Lakers guard Kobe Bryant (below), who also a made a tiebreaking jumper with three seconds left in a 121-119 win over Indiana last week.

Who's got next

*L.A. Lakers at San Antonio, 10:30 p.m. Wednesday (ESPN). Buzz: First of two meetings this month between teams.

*New Orleans at Cleveland, 8 p.m. Friday (ESPN). Buzz: Two MVP candidates link up in Hornets' Chris Paul and Cavaliers' LeBron James.

*Orlando at L.A. Lakers, 10:30 p.m. Friday (ESPN). Buzz: Kobe Bryant and Lakers looking to avenge December loss in Orlando.

Closing thought

If this were Let's Make a Deal, what Magic fan out there wouldn't choose to end the season right now and go straight to the playoffs if they could?

NBA power poll

1. Cavaliers: LeBron's 38 points conquered struggling Celtics.

2. Lakers: Face hot Orlando Magic club on Friday.

3. Magic: Started out road trip with big win over Spurs.

4. Spurs: Won eight of 10 games entering Monday night.

5. Hornets: Holding onto No. 2 seed in West entering week.

26. Knicks: Were 15 games back of Boston entering week.

27. Kings: Lost eight of last 10 entering week.

28. Wizards: Had lost five straight entering Monday's Bucks game.

29. Thunder: Are 19 games back of Nuggets entering week.

30. Clippers: Losers of 11 straight entering week.

Tip-ins

*Minnesota Timberwolves Coach Kevin McHale was ejected in the first quarter of his team's 106-104 win over Milwaukee on Saturday. He'd drawn two techs for arguing a call with referee Sean Corbin. Asked afterward if he recalled being ejected previously, McHale talked about his days with the Celtics. "Maybe as a player, I might have lost my mind a couple of times," he said.

*The trade made headlines during the first month of the season. But Detroit guard Allen Iverson (below, left) got a standing ovation in his return to Denver last week in which he led the Pistons to a 93-90 victory against the Nuggets. It was Iverson's first appearance in Denver since he and Chauncey Billups were swapped in a blockbuster multi-player deal. Iverson finished the game with 23 points to lead Detroit, while Billups tossed in 30. "It was fun, man, it was fun," Billups said. "You love to compete against your friends, but at some point you've got to win the game. It was strange, though."

Magic beat Seats for Soldiers Night

For the third time the Orlando Magic and the Harris Corporation joined up to honor military men, women and families during Seats for Soldiers Night on Jan. 9.

The event featured a meet-and-greet with players afterward and several activities during the Magic's win over Atlanta.

Tickets for the game were donated to military personnel from Patrick Air Force Base in Cocoa Beach, MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa, the Naval Air Force Station in Jacksonville and in the Orlando area.

Quote of the week

"I'm just glad I'm not looking like the bad guy, like almost every other time. I'm not a bad person."

-- Memphis forward Darius Miles on the standoff

with his former team, the Portland Trail Blazers