ORLANDO, Florida – The retooled Orlando Magic knocked off NBA leaders San Antonio on Thursday, and have their sights set now on the league's number two team when they host Boston on Christmas Day.
"We've only seen a glimpse of what we could be and how well we could play and what we could do," said Orlando's Jason Richardson, who joined the Magic on Saturday as part of two blockbuster trades engineered by the struggling club.
Orlando acquired Richardson, Hedo Turkoblu and Earl Clark from Phoenix, and Gilbert Arenas from Washington in deals that saw them give up Rashard Lewis, Vince Carter, Mickael Pietrus and Martin Pietrus along with a 2011 first-round draft selection.
The new-look lineup lost their first two games before cruising to a victory over a weary San Antonio - ending the Spurs' 10-game winning streak.
"Boston will be another good test," Richardson said. "But time will tell how good we really are."
Celtics coach Doc Rivers said he didn't know if Orlando match up better now with Boston.
"I'm not sure how, since they've gotten smaller, what sense that makes," Rivers said. "They've just brought more talent and they're a better team, to me, in the long run because they've added more talent."
Even Magic coach Stan Van Gundy isn't quite sure how the mid-season moves will pan out for Orlando against the Eastern Conference's elite teams.
"I think Miami and Boston are very, very good. Chicago, Atlanta and New York are all playing well and are good. And I think we're a total unknown," Van Gundy said.
But win or lose against the Celtics on Saturday, Orlando center Dwight Howard said the real test of the changes will come later, in the playoffs, when Orlando will be hoping to improve on their performance of last year when they were knocked out by Boston in the Eastern Conference finals.
"We're not playing for December or January," Howard said. "We're playing for June."
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