AP/Gregory Smith

The Orlando Magic take on the Milwaukee Bucks tonight. You can read my game preview here.

Click here to read John Denton’s mailbag.

Orlando’s records with and without starting Point Guard are very similar.

Contrary to what you might think, the numbers suggest that Jameer Nelson’s absence doesn’t make a huge difference.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but with Jameer Nelson, including last year’s run in the NBA playoffs, the Orlando Magic are 45-19.

Without Jameer Nelson?

They’re 43-21 with players like Rafer Alston, Jason Williams and Anthony Johnson filling in the gap.

You can find this story here.

Anthony Johnson had a big game Thursday night.

That extra effort paid dividends Thursday when he came off the bench and scored 17 points to help the Magic beat the Atlanta Hawks 93-76.

“Everybody that’s in this league wants to play a lot of minutes, but sometimes it’s not in the cards,” Johnson said afterward. “I’m just trying to stay patient and trying to stay professional. The bottom line is longevity and just being a good teammate. I’m just trying to stay positive and stay ready.”

Read the story here and see the videos here.

Orlando’s Saturday night opponent, the Milwaukee Bucks, have lost three in a row and their hometown paper does not think they are ready for prime time. They used Friday night’s blowout loss against the Thunder as evidence.

But the Bucks failed to be ready for prime time as they melted down at the start of the third quarter en route to a 108-90 defeat. Oklahoma City went on a 17-0 run to open the quarter as the Bucks missed their first 13 shots after halftime.

“I thought at the start of the game and the start of the third we just got overwhelmed,” said Bucks coach Scott Skiles. “They just drove the ball, dunked it and went wherever they wanted to go. And that spilled over to the offensive end.”

The Bucks finished 1-3 on their weeklong trip against Western Conference teams.

Read that story here.

Hoops Addict had a recent chat with Rashard Lewis. You can find that here.

Team President Bob Vander Weide says that Magic have to get owner Rich De Vos a championship.

Magic owner Rich DeVos, during a radio interview this week, said he had no problem with his team going into luxury-tax territory for the first time this season as it tries to win the NBA championship. “Bob (Vander Weide, team president and DeVos’ son-in-law) told me, ‘We have to get you a championship before it’s too late.’ I guess he means before I die.” DeVos is 83, walks with a cane and has lived more than 10 years now after a heart transplant.

(Andrew Melnick Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger and a contributor at NFL Mocks Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)