"For the Orlando Magic and other NBA teams, a gameday walkthrough can feel like a nuisance. On the road, they often assemble bleary-eyed and travel-weary in a hotel ballroom around 10 a.m. to prepare for that night's opponent.

But the Magic better be alert this morning in Atlanta. There's so much to cover and so little time.

Their walkthrough today will begin a potentially difficult adjustment period in which the team must integrate four new players and adapt to the loss of four others.

The additions of Gilbert Arenas, Earl Clark, Jason Richardson and Hedo Turkoglu through two blockbuster trades could markedly improve the Magic's offense in the long run. In the short term, however, their arrival could make a vicious portion of their schedule even more arduous.

"Those guys will probably play two games before they'll even have a practice with us," coach Stan Van Gundy said. "As far as working 'em in, it's going to be on the fly."

Tonight's game against the Atlanta Hawks at Philips Arena will tip-off an absurdly tough stretch that also includes matchups against the Dallas Mavericks, San Antonio Spurs and the Boston Celtics. The four opponents own a combined winning percentage of .776.

The Magic, meanwhile, have lost six of their last seven games.

"You can lose a game in December and it doesn't mean nothing when the playoffs come," center Dwight Howard said. "So, we all understand that we have to get better — and we are. It's going to be a tough stretch for us, but we're going to find a way out of this, and it's just going to be through hard work."

The first item on their to-do list: Improve their suddenly woeful defense."