Steve

Francis

The TD Waterhouse Centre turns 16 on Jan. 29, but the Magic believe the arena lacks revenue-producing amenities.

Tomjanovich will miss at least the start of the team’s road trip which begins Tuesday. Assistant coach Larry Smith will serve as acting head coach in Tomjanovich’s absence.

At least he won’t be suspended, which was a possibility. It was the second time in a week the league took a look at Francis’ actions. Last week, he got into a shoving match with Amare Stoudemire.

The players told coach Jeff Van Gundy they were sick. Van Gundy said he did not know if they would be well enough to play tonight. But if they are healthy, he said they would start.

Francis has been playing with a badly swollen bursa sac in his left elbow, and he sprained his right wrist on a fall in Tuesday’s game. He plans to stay in the starting lineup.

Francis says he won’t change the way he plays, but that’s exactly what the Magic are trying to do, especially toward the end of games when they’d like to eliminate the turnovers that Francis is often prone to.

“It’s not like they’re shopping him,” said an East Coast executive. “It’s not like they’re calling around saying, ‘You can have Francis for so-and-so.’ But they’re definitely wide open to suggestion.” If there’s any chance Rasheed Wallace would sign a long-term deal with Houston, sources indicate the Hawks will be offered Francis and Maurice Taylor for Wallace, with Jason Terry possibly also being involved. Wallace, however, can not be dealt again until 45 days from the date he joined the Hawks.

No one else is reporting that the deal is done. The Magic could still be considering offers from Phoenix, Indiana and Miami, according to Florida Today.

A nice 29 minutes of work. Francis matched his high assist game from 2003-04.

Francis also had with nine rebounds and seven assists.