EAST RUTHERFORD (NBA.com exclusive) --  The Nets' 2009 home debut marked something of a measurement game as the rebuilding team faced the Orlando Magic, who in addition to being the defending Eastern Conference champions also now have Vince Carter, formerly New Jersey's best player.

Unfortunately, the Magic's 95-85 win on Friday night at the IZOD Center showed just how far New Jersey has to go as Orlando cruised even with the man nicknamed "Half Man, Half Amazing" missing half the game a sprained left ankle suffered late in the second quarter.

Carter still managed 16 points in a dazzling 15 minutes, but it was Dwight Howard inflicting the most damage with 20 points and 22 rebounds.

"We won, so it's never disappointing," Carter said. "It was just great getting out there. It was like old times.

"As much as I know we're trying to accomplish something, you always enjoy playing against guys you went to battle with the year before. But it was a weird feeling, I will say that."

Carter, who enjoyed five seasons with New Jersey after an unceremonious departure from the Toronto Raptors, received a warm introduction before the opening tip and had Nets fans pining for his return almost instantly with a sparkling one-handed jam for the first points of the game.

"I tried to attack the basket and get to the rim and it started to open up like the Red Sea," Carter said.

Carter had 13 points on 5 of 7 shooting in the first quarter and, after a rest early in the second period, drained a 3-pointer late in the quarter to put Orlando up by 10.

"I was ready to sit back and enjoy it," Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said.

But the Nets got a reprieve from their former star when he tripped over the foot of Nets' second-year guard Chris Douglas-Roberts and headed to the locker room with a sprained left ankle. Carter, who was traded to Orlando on June 25 with Ryan Anderson for guards Courtney Lee and Rafter Alston and veteran center Tony Battie, said after the game it was a "mild sprain" and he hoped to play Sunday against the Raptors.

The Nets trailed the entire second half and never got closer than nine points in the fourth quarter. Lee, the second-year guard who was "devastated" to leave Orlando after the Carter trade, led New Jersey with 18 points.

"They're just executing to a T," Lee said of his former club. "Playing for each other, playing team ball."

"They're the Eastern Conference champions for a reason," said Nets guard Devin Harris, who had 16 points and seven assists. "They make a lot of tough covers out there with Dwight in the middle and their capable three-point shooters."

"Obviously, Orlando is a high-level team," Nets coach Lawrence Frank said. "We're saying that this is going to be process."

Carter, of course, is thrilled to be in Orlando. It was his offseason home before the trade and, of course, the Magic figure to compete for a return to the NBA Finals this year. But he looks at the end of his tenure with the Nets as unfinished business.

"My motivation was to get us in (into the playoffs) and just go from there," Carter said. "Hopefully we could build on it, just get in the playoffs and in a few years maybe play for a championship down the road. I was able to see the big picture and make the best of it. We had an opportunity and it just slipped away."

The Nets are now 0-2 to start the season after a deflating season-opening loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, while Orlando improves to 2-0 with a couple of impressive road wins.