Milwaukee Bucks @ Orlando Magic

Yardbarker.com

The Magic will return to action and put their six-game winning streak on the line when they play host to the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday night.

The Bucks, who were the sixth seed in the playoffs last year, have been plagued by injuries. They have lost three of their last four games and six of their last nine. Their 101-89 loss to the Heat in Miami Tuesday dropped their record to 13-19. The Magic are coming off a win over the Golden State Warriors Monday night that improved their record to 22-12.

These two teams met back December 4th in Milwaukee. The Bucks defeated the Magic 96-85 but the Magic were without Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, and J.J. Redick because of the flu and without Ryan Anderson because of his ankle injury.

In fact, Brandon Bass is the only current rotation player who played in that game and he finished with 12 points and 8 rebounds.

The Bucks are 25th in pace (90.4), last in offensive rating (99.9) and sixth in defensive rating (102.3).

Orlando’s recent play has moved them up to 17th in pace (92.0) and 13th in offensive rating (106.7). They continue to be one of the league’s best defensive teams in terms of defensive rating, ranking fourth (101.2).

The game will be shown locally on FSN Florida. As always, if you can’t watch the game, you can listen on the radio – in English on AM 580 WDBO and in Spanish on AM 1270 WRLZ.

Tip off from the Amway Center is scheduled for 7:00 pm EST.

The Line: Orlando – 12

Starters:

Milwaukee Bucks

Andrew Bogut
Ersan Ilyasova
Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
John Salmons
Keyon Dooling

Orlando Magic

Dwight Howard
Brandon Bass
Hedo Turkoglu
Jason Richardson
Jameer Nelson

The Bucks have been decimated by injuries. Brandon Jennings remains out after having left foot surgery. Michael Redd (left foot surgery), Drew Gooden (plantar fasciitis in left foot) and Carlos Delfino (strained neck/concussion-like symptoms) are also out.

For the Magic, Malik Allen is questionable with a sprained left ankle while Daniel Orton (left knee surgery) and Jason Williams (arthritis in feet) are out indefinitely.

The officials will be Dick Bavetta, Olandis Poole and Scott Wall.

Opponent To Watch: Andrew Bogut, C – The Bucks’ big man torched the Magic in their last meeting, going off for 31 points and 18 rebounds in his first game back from his back injury. Of course, that performance must be taken with a grain of salt since Dwight Howard missed the game with the flu. Bogut managed just 12.5 points per game on 42.3% shooting from the field against Howard and the Magic last season.

What To Watch For: The Bucks are among the slowest paced teams in the league and are arguably the worst offensive team in the league. Without Brandon Jennings, the Bucks have had a lot of trouble getting into a rhythm on offense. That’s a big change from Orlando’s last two opponents. Both the New York Knicks and Golden State Warriors get up and down the court and score a lot of points. The Magic will likely try to push the ball and up the pace of the game.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger, co-host of CB Sports Radio from 5-7 pm week days (1420sports.com) and ESPN 1080′s Magic Insider (http://espn1080.com). Subscribe to his RSS feed, add him on Facebook and follow him on Twitter to follow him daily. You can download the HTD app here).

Tags: andrew bogut, Brandon Bass, brandon jennings, Dwight Howard, gilbert arenas, hedo turkoglu, j.j. redick, jameer nelson, jason richardson