By Matthew Gardner | OrlandoMagic.com

The Orlando Magic started the 2006-07 season on a positive note, building an early lead and never looking back in a 109-94 victory against the Chicago Bulls. Dwight Howard had a remarkable night for the Magic, finishing with 27 points and 11 rebounds and also hit 9-of-10 free throws. Jameer Nelson added 21 points and Grant Hill scored 19 for the Magic, who shot 59 percent from the field.

One night after tearing apart the defending champion Miami Heat, the Bulls struggled to find consistency. Ben Gordon led Chicago with 24 points, while Kirk Hinrich added 14, rookie Thabo Sefolosha had 13 and Luol Deng scored 12.

The Magic return to action on Friday night when they host the Philadelphia 76ers.

9:41PM: Magic going to start the season 1-0. 107-92 lead with one minute left.

9:32PM: Looks like Chicago has retired its starters for the night as Orlando's now got a 105-87 lead and 2:46 left in this one.

9:28PM: Magic hit the century mark with more than four minutes remaining. Dwight now had 25 points and 11 rebounds. More importantly, he's 7-of-8 from the free throw line. If Dwight can drastically improve with his free throw shooting it will force opponents to rethink their strategies last in the game.

9:22PM: Shooting update...Magic hitting 60.7 percent, Chicago at 44. The Bulls have struggled from outside, hitting just 5-of-17 three-pointers, while the Magic have nailed 5-of-6. The Bulls have also struggled from the free throw line with just 14-of-24 made. Magic have hit 23-of-30.

9:16PM: Grant cans a pair of free throws and now has 18 points in 23 minutes of action. Meanwhile, tough night for the newest Bull - Ben Wallace. He's got just two points and only five rebounds.

9:15PM: Dwight dunk and Keyon three put Orlando back up by 16.

9:12PM: Bulls marching back...the Magic lead is now only 11. Dwight leads the Magic with 21, while Grant has 16, Jameer with 15 and Hedo has 11. For Chicago, Ben Gordon has 20, Hinrich has chipped in with 14 and Luol Deng has 12.

9:11PM: Dwight gets his first point of the second half on a free throw (21 points). Bulls now have Hinrich and Nocioni in foul trouble with five each.

9:04PM: End of Third: Magic lead, 86-70.

9:01PM: Hinrich just picked one a foul, followed by a technical. He now has five fouls. Magic lead, 85-65.

8:55PM: Magic now up 80-57. Now Chicago knows how Miami was feeling last night. The only difference? Chicago didn't get Championship rings prior to this game.

8:51PM: A layup by Darko gives the Magic a 78-55 lead. Timeout on the floor.

8:50PM: ...and he's not done yet. Jameer cans a three to put the Magic up by 21, 76-55. He then picked up his third foul and is replaced in the lineup by Mr. Arroyo.

8:48PM: Jameer with a couple of second half baskets to help the Magic maintain an 18-point lead...73-55.

8:46PM: Tony Battie dunks back a miss for Orlando's first bucket of the second half. Magic lead, 67-53.

8:41PM: Chicago opens the third quarter on a 6-0 run. Orlando takes a timeout to regroup.

8:39PM: Second half underway in Orlando.

8:19PM: Dwight with a huge block out of bounds with 00.3 left in the first half. Magic head into the locker room with a 63-45 lead.

8:17PM: Dwight Howard with another layup. The big man already has 20 points.

8:14PM: The Twin Towers are causing some grief for the Bulls. Dwight rebounds a Ben Wallace miss and Darko hits the jumper on the other send - Magic 60, Bulls 41.

8:09PM: Steal and layup by Jameer Nelson gives Orlando a 58-37 lead. Doesn't look like Chicago's gonna repeat their 42-point blowout it did last night in Miami.

8:05PM: The Superstar has officially arrived. Dwight Howard is unstoppable right now. He just got double-teamed once again, got fouled by Hinrich and still made the basket. He's now got 18 points with five rebounds.

8:02PM: Arroyo making a big splash off the bench with six points in seven minutes.

7:58PM: Good move movement and solid shooting in the first half for the Magic. The home team has connected on 65 percent of its shots and lead by 12, 43-31.

7:52PM: Chicago starting to come alive...Hinrich and Duhon with back-to-back threes. Magic lead down to eight, 37-29.

7:50PM: Dwight already with 13 points and Grant with 10. Magic up by 14...37-23.

7:43PM: End of the first quarter: Magic 32, Bulls 20

7:36PM: No shooting luck for the Bulls so far in this one. Just 29.4 percent from the floor. Magic lead 27-12.

7:27PM: Grant looking really, really good. He's 3-of-3 from the field...already with 8 points. He must have been holding back during the preseason. Magic 16, Bulls 10.

7:22PM: Magic off to a good start....Dwight Howard with a great spin move and a dunk...Jameer with a sweet baseline layup and another basket for Grant. Dwight dunks back another and the Magic out quickly to a 10-3 lead.

7:19PM: First Magic points of the season, Tony Battie misses a jumper and Grant Hill comes up with the board and put back.

7:17PM: Opening Tip: Dwight Howard and Ben Wallace and the tip goes to the Magic. First possession for the Magic, Dwight air balls a shot while guarded by Ben Wallace.

7:16PM: Starting lineups....for the Bulls: Ben Wallace, Kirk Hinrich, Luol Deng, P.J. Brown and Ben Gordon. The Magic's starting five: Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Grant Hill, Hedo Turkoglu and Tony Battie.

713PM: Inactives for tonight's game: For the Magic - Trevor Ariza, J.J. Redick and James Augustine. For the Bulls - Andre Barrett, Martynas Andriuskevicius and Micheal Sweetney.

7:09PM: Moments away from pre-game intros and the tip-off to the 2006-07 season....

9:00AM: - Preview
The 2006-07 season officially gets underway tonight as the Orlando Magic return to regular season action against the Chicago Bulls. After ending the 2005-06 campaign by winning 16 of the season's final 22 contests, Orlando returns 12 players from last year's squad. Added to the mix via the Draft are J.J. Redick and James Augustine, while Keith Bogans signed with Orlando to make his second stint in the City Beautiful.

For Chicago, it was a busy off-season that included signing Ben Wallace, trading for P.J. Brown and drafted a talented duo in Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefolosha. Another young and up-and-coming team, Chicago is expected to create some waves this season in the Eastern Conference.

Orlando gets to face a Bulls team that opened the season last night against the Heat in Miami. As the season wears on, I'm sure we'll find that playing a team a night after they've been in Miami is a blessing. But for opening week, it will probably be a tough test as Chicago will get a game under its belt in order to iron out its wrinkles and give the first team significant minutes on the floor before taking on the Magic.

Unfortunately, there were few wrinkles in the Chicago team that showed up last night in Miami. The Bulls crushed the defending champs, 108-66 - the worst opening night loss by a defending champ ever. Someone forgot to tell the Heat there was a basketball game to follow the ring ceremony.

In addition to adding Wallace and Brown to the starting lineup, the Bulls return Team USA standout Kirk Hinrich, along with third-year rising stars Luol Deng and Ben Gordon. They will also have a very deep bench that will include Andres Nocioni and Chris Duhon in addition to Thomas and Sefolosha - both whom should provide an additional scoring punch for Chicago.

The Magic's starting five for tonight will consist of Dwight Howard, Tony Battie, Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu and Grant Hill. Howard, Battie, Nelson and Turkoglu were in the starting lineup at the end of last season and Hill, who returns from an injury plagued 05-06 season, replaces DeShawn Stevenson in the lineup. The players that should see significant minutes off the bench tonight include Darko Milicic, Keyon Dooling, Carlos Arroyo, Bo Outlaw and Pat Garrity.