You know, those thrilling years earlier this decade, when the power was in the Western Conference and whoever came out of the East had about as much chance in the Finals as a box of rocks.

The Lakers are running that gantlet right now. They felt awfully good about themselves after winning their Finals rematch with Boston on Christmas Day, but the Orlando Magic sent them a message Friday night, 109-103.

And the Cleveland Cavaliers will be here Monday night. If the logjam at the top of the Eastern Conference standings is any indication at all, maybe the Lakers' 21-3 record against the West is the true mirage.

Cleveland is 31-7. Orlando is 33-8. Boston is 33-9.

Additionally, the Magic now has swept season series from both the 31-8 Lakers and 26-13 San Antonio.

Anyone else have anything to say about the East?

"We were upset a couple of years ago, about how they were calling the Eastern Conference the JVs and the Western Conference the varsity," Dwight Howard said. "We kind of took that personally.

"And all the teams in the East got better, and we're going to continue to get better. There's a lot of young teams, and the more and more we mature as a team, we're going to be a great team come playoff time."

The Magic was the league's best kept secret for a while, overshadowed by the star power of the defending champion Celtics and LeBron James' Cavaliers. But no more.

This is a team with the necessary components to make noise in May and maybe June - a gutsy, quick scorer/distributor in Jameer Nelson, a floor full of shooters to drain three-pointers, and a world-class big man in Howard, who showed the planet how far he has come at the Beijing Olympics.

"This is to take nothing away from the other guys - Jameer in particular was fantastic tonight - but everything revolves around Dwight at both ends of the floor," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said after Friday's victory at Staples Center. "The other guys do their jobs, but he's the guy we put the responsibility on. He's the guy I yell at all the time."

Friday night, Howard delivered 25 points, 20 rebounds and three blocked shots. Rashard Lewis had four three-pointers, and Hedo Turkoglu and rookie Courtney Lee two apiece.

As for Nelson, he finished with 28 points, eight assists, three treys and a stretch of seven straight points to pull Orlando from a 103-101 deficit to a 108-103 lead in the final 35.7 seconds.

Nelson was the consensus College Player of the Year in 2004 at Saint Joseph's, but being just 6-foot probably cost him some money. He was still available at No. 20 in that year's draft, when Denver took him and traded him to Orlando.

"Hey, I'm the one that's normal," he quipped. "It's all those other guys who are big."

Funny thing. Nelson, who was averaging 16.9 points, shooting 50.8 overall and 45.9 percent from three-point territory and doling out 5.4 assists after Friday's game, is making those big guys, and especially the Big Guy, more efficient.

"If he's making shots, then they're not sagging in on me," Howard said. "Jameer, he just keeps going, keeps going. Fourth quarter, third quarter . . . the second half, basically, is his time. I just try to set a screen and get open, and he can do the rest."

This is how dangerous Nelson can be. He actually had Kobe Bryant guarding him for a time Friday night.

This could turn out to be a great story. It's a young team, yet one growing in experience, and it's a team that by all appearances gets along with one another famously.

It could also, conceivably, right a wrong. Remember, Van Gundy was pushed out at Miami in December 2005 - er, resigned for "personal reasons" - and it was Pat Riley who reaped the glory and the ring when the Heat went on to win the NBA title.

If the Magic really is that good, and there's no reason to believe it isn't, Van Gundy could find himself coaching in June after all.

Reach Jim Alexander at 951-368-9543

or jalexander@PE.com