ORLANDO - Zydrunas Ilgauskas was available for anyone who wanted to talk to him on Wednesday night, not bothered at all by an 0-for-6 shooting night or at no longer being the primary big defending Dwight Howard.

Not the big guy we're looking for, though.

In the opposite locker room, Orlando's Marcin Gortat held court, graciously surmising what it's like to go mano-a-mano with Shaquille O'Neal. It's a task the young backup center relishes, since friends back in his native Poland still find it fascinating that he goes to work against a legend.

His comments were fun and enlightening, as you'll read later. Still, not who we're looking for.

Second-year forward J.J. Hickson made some time for Pro Basketball News. Despite his desire to catch the team bus that was heading back early, he addressed what he's looking to offer the Cavs' starting lineup.

Good to talk to him, but again, something is missing.

LeBron James answered all questions not relating to free agency, living up to his pre-game promise. Mo Williams talked about going 9-for-9 in the first half and again trumpeted his beloved Alabama Crimson Tide's ability to handle reigning national champion Florida in December's SEC Championship. When in Rome, Mo likes to rattle a few Roman cages.

Still, when it came to the two guys most wanted to talk to following Cleveland's 102-93 victory over the Magic, most were out of luck.

O'Neal passed on addressing the media, quickly showering, dressing and walking off with a big smile on his face. Howard was reportedly getting treatment long after the game, then came out and spoke to a diligent few who hung around long enough, telling the Orlando Sentinel that his rebounding slump is "just a phase."

Every time the Cavs and Magic get together these days, turmoil ensues. James walks off without shaking hands, Williams gets a sign shaken at him ridiculing last postseason's erroneous guarantee that Cleveland would beat the Magic, and so forth.

These teams appear to be in the early stages of an epic budding rivalry, which is why Wednesday's showdown was so disappointing.

Within the game's first 3:18, Howard racked up two fouls and had to go to the bench. O'Neal was never really a focal point, holding down the paint but ultimately serving in a complementary role to James and Williams, who combined to score 64. The Cavs led by as many as 22 points come the fourth quarter and ultimately wound up deflecting the impact of their own accomplishments. To a man, they were happy to get the win, but cognizant of the Magic not being the same team without suspended All-Star Rashard Lewis and talented fill-in Ryan Anderson.

It all felt so anti-climactic, like a big game that really wasn't. The promise was there, but it just never materialized.

Consider that the day started with the Cavs releasing a statement regarding O'Neal's separation from his wife Shaunie, who filed papers in Los Angeles County. At that point, you wondered how O'Neal would perform on such a trying day, how he'd handle all the questions about another meeting with the other Superman, the one who's moved into his original NBA homebase and made it his own.

You wondered what he'd have to say about Stan Van Gundy, whom he famously called a "master of panic" the last time he rolled in for a date with the Magic. Would he apologize? Offer props? Blame him for blowing the Finals?

What kind of mood would he be in, given the trying circumstances?

We were left wondering.

O'Neal declined to speak to reporters, which makes for an interesting scene as he returns to Miami for the first time as a Cavalier come Thursday night. While you can certainly understand his need for privacy and respect his desire not to talk, it was still a buzzkill. Maybe he was afraid of saying something he'd regret.

Howard has been dealing with a bum shoulder and frustration over constant foul trouble all season, but this meeting with O'Neal was special for him, too. After all, every meeting with O'Neal means something, more so now that they're on title contenders within the same conference. Wednesday night's encounter marked this season's first opportunity to send a message, show Shaq he's a year older, and bridge the respect gap that seems to exist between them.

Instead, O'Neal beat him to the punch, drawing a second foul on him before Howard could. Maybe he was afraid of saying something he'd regret, too.  Interestingly enough, his backup was certain there would be foul trouble.

"You can ask everybody on the team, everybody in Poland, every friend, I told them, I'm gonna be the guy who's going to play Shaq. It's going to be one, two, three, max four minutes, I'm going to be on the floor playing Shaq," said Gortat, who will pull a dime out of your ear for his next trick. "I said, 'I'm going to be the fresh meat they're going to throw at Shaq.' I'm telling you, that's what I said to everybody on the team, and hopefully, they'll tell you that's true. I was 100 percent sure.

"I had already -- I took off my pants before the game I said I'm coming in, two minutes, I know that. I know that. I just know, or Dwight is going to get fouls or Shaq is going to get fouls and later I'm going to run in there as the four-man."

Gortat's premonition that he'd play alongside Howard came to fruition, too. Unfortuately, by the point they paired up, the outcome was already decided and Van Gundy couldn't get a very good look at whether the Magic's largest possible pairing could be effective against Cleveland.

'Til next time then.

That won't be until Feb. 11, the Thursday prior to All-Star Weekend. By then, there will surely be some other form of drama in the air, which will hopefully atone for the feeling that this first meeting came, went and now owes us all something.

Call me spoiled, but LeBron putting a halt to questions about free agency, Delonte West being benched after reportedly missing a team flight and Van Gundy calling out leaders Howard and Jameer Nelson for failing to set the right tone wasn't juicy enough to meet expectations. No new chapters were added.

The refs saw to it that the game never got physical by handcuffing Howard early. There were no hard fouls or messages sent. Nobody said something about anybody's mama. It was just a basketball game.

In fact, the most entertaining portion of this season's first installment of Cavs-Magic came courtesy of Gortat, who offered the most candid assessment of the Howard-O'Neal "baddest man on the planet" debate I've heard yet from someone with experience against both.

"Shaq controls his body more. He controls his moves and there's a big difference. I think he - Shaq - is using his body perfectly. He knows where he has to duck in, where he has to go, when he has to seal someone. I think it's just coming with experience. Dwight is full of energy, he's doing a lot of unnecessary moves sometimes, try and foul too much, somteimes, but still, Dwight is Dwight and he's a beast.

"Compare Shaq, who's thirty-what-seven years old, to Dwight, who's twenty-two-three? You can't compare. Dwight is Dwight. He's gonna go at you every single time. Even if the ball is on the other side of the floor, he's still going to be pushing you, hitting you, doing everything to just piss you off. And like I said before, when Dwight is hitting you on your right shoulder you're feeling pain in your left finger. You're just feeling pain through your whole body. Dwight is a monster."

No comparison? Maybe O'Neal will catch wind of that and put it on his bulletin board for 2010. If he does, it would make Gortat's comments one of the few redeemable items from an otherwise forgettable installment of the NBA's most intriguing new soap opera. 

A reach? Yep. Had to.

Tony Mejia is senior writer of Pro Basketball News. He can be reached at mejia@probasketballnews.com