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Sixers face depleted Magic tonight with another new starting lineup

Coach Doug Collins has made another change in the starting lineup for tonight's game against the Orlando Magic, inserting Thaddues Young.

It took until the 60th game of this 66-game schedule for Thaddeus Young to get his first start of the season. That's what will happen tonight when the Sixers play the Orlando Magic at the Amway Center.

The Magic are depleted as starting center Dwight Howard is out for the rest of the season with a back injury. And in their victory over the Cavaliers on Sunday, backup center Glen Davis sprained a knee and is out tonight.

That means Orlando will be sporting a very small lineup tonight, littered with good three-point shooters in J.J. Redick, Jason Richardson, Ryan Anderson and Jameer Nelson. For that reason, Collins is going with the quicker Young in place of rookie center Nikola Vucevic.

It was just last week that Collins removed Spencer Hawes and Evan Turner from the starting five, implementing Vucevic and Jodie Meeks. Collins said at this morning's shootaround that Hawes will be the first "big" off the bench tonight.

This is the first of three games in three days for the Sixers, who currently hold a half-game lead over the New York Knicks for the seventh spot in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers will host the Indiana Pacers Tuesday before traveling to Cleveland on Wednesday. That will leave just four games remaining on the regular-season schedule, all on the road - Saturday at Indiana, Monday in New Jersey, then Wednesday and Thursday in Milwaukee and Detroit.