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The Cleveland Cavaliers brought in Shaquille O’Neal in large part to deal with Orlando star center Dwight Howard after Howard dominated in the Eastern Conference Finals last season as the Magic upset Cleveland. Tonight we get to see what sort of impact Shaq might have as the two teams meet for the first time in this new season.

The Magic are 2-point betting favorites on WagerWeb.com.

Orlando comes in at a bit of a disadvantage, as it had to play Tuesday night, beating the Bobcats in Charlotte 93-81. Vince Carter returned to the Magic on Tuesday after missing three games and he scored 15 points as a substitute. It was Carter’s 781st NBA game, but only his eighth appearance off the bench.

Expect him to start tonight.

For Shaq, the former Magic star, it will be a homecoming — his family still lives there. Last year, he watched the conference finals as a spectator, showing up at Amway Arena at least once. But how focused will he be on basketball considering his wife just filed for a legal separation? O’Neal, 37, is averaging 11.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and shooting just 42 percent at the free-throw line. O’Neal, then with Phoenix, and Howard faced each other once last season. Howard had 19 points in Orlando’s 111-99 home win on March 3, but he was held to only seven rebounds.

Cleveland made a change to the starting lineup Friday  against the Knicks, with second-year forward J.J. Hickson in and Anderson Varejao out. The move improved the bench players’ play considerably, especially with Varejao’s energy, so coach Mike Brown says he will stick with it for now.

The Magic are very thin at power forward with Ryan Anderson (sprained right ankle) likely out through all next week and Rashard Lewis still suspended for two more games. Brandon Bass likely will start, with backup center Marcin Gortat sure to see heavy minutes.

Including playoff games, however, the Cavaliers have lost six straight and eight of nine in Orlando.

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