"The standings," Van Gundy said.

Van Gundy has more reason than ever to treasure the Eastern Conference standings: The Magic are jockeying for the top record heading into tonight's game against the Sacramento Kings.

With the NBA season nearing the midpoint, it's essentially a three-team race among the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Magic and the defending champion Boston Celtics for the No. 1 seed.

Home-court advantage, possibly through the playoffs, goes to the winner.

Their conference race for No. 1 is closer than the respective divisional races that the Cavs, Magic and Celts currently oversee.

"There's no reason we can't be right there with both of them [Cavs and Celtics]," forward Rashard Lewis said.

The Cavs (29-6), Magic (30-8) and Celtics (31-9) are so close they could be triplets.

Boston jumped to a 27-2 record, reeling off 19 consecutive victories.

While the Celtics' recent slump has brought them back to the field, they are capable of another long run with the Big Three (Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen).

Cleveland has used a remarkable 19-0 start at home to sit on the pole in the East. The Cavs also have LeBron James, regarded by many as the MVP frontrunner over Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard.

Orlando simply is one of the hottest, most consistent teams in the NBA.

The Magic are a league-best 14-5 on the road and 16-3 at home, owners of an 11-game winning streak at Amway Arena.

And what are the Magic's chances of winding up as the top seed?

Good. Real good. Maybe better than you think.

Here's why, in part:

* Orlando has begun its most difficult road trip and stretch of games (to close the month).

If the Magic can prosper on this trip and survive the rest of January, their remaining schedule is fairly accommodating. (Their final five games are against Memphis, New York, New Jersey, Milwaukee and Charlotte.)

As well as they play out of town -- Sunday's win at San Antonio provides more evidence -- the Magic might have a leg up as the league's best road team.

That said, in head-to-head competition, Orlando was trounced in Boston earlier this season. The Magic have three games left with the Celtics.

Orlando and Cleveland have yet to begin their three-game series, but the Magic have won six of the past eight games.

* Celtics Coach Doc Rivers already has talked about monitoring minutes so the aging Big Three have gas left for the playoffs. If he actually does pull back the reins, the Celtics might shut it down late in the season, opening the door for the Cavs and Magic.

Chances of Van Gundy cutting back playing time for his relatively young team? Nil. Ditto for Cleveland Coach Mike Brown.

If Boston can survive a brutal February and early March, they could waltz in as the No. 1.

* Cleveland's dominance at home can't continue, can it? If it does, the Cavs could be the team to claim the East's top spot as 14 of their last 23 games are at home.

There's a red flag: Thirteen of their wins at LeBron's lair have come against teams currently under .500.

The Cavs also play their first extensive road trip (out West) starting Monday when they face the Lakers, Portland, Golden State and Utah.

The race for No. 1 in East could come down to the last regular-season dribble.