The Magic’s regular-season was scheduled to continue tonight in Miami against the state rival Heat, but the lockout interrupted the party.

We realize fans are longing for the work stoppage to end. Until then we will try to give you a dose of Magic basketball, looking back at previous seasons.

Today, you can relive a Nov. 3 game from Magic history…..

Nov. 3, 2004: Magic 93, Milwaukee Bucks 92 in Orlando:

We picked this Magic game because it signified a decided transition in the franchise’s direction:

A nervous rookie named Dwight Howard made his NBA debut at home on opening night. Not only that, but newcomer Steve Francis — playing the go-to role vacated by Tracy McGrady — made the winning shot.

The Magic practically debuted an entire team as then-general manager John Weisbrod brought in 11 new players.

Weisbrod, as unhappy with McGrady as T-Mac was with him, dealt McGrady to the Houston Rockets over the summer for a package of players headlined by Francis.

The Magic were trying to rebound from a disastrous 21-61 season. The lottery ping-pong balls came up with the No. 1 pick — and Howard, who would develop into a superstar.

Here’s the Magic-Bucks game story as it appeared in the Sentinel:

MAGIC MOMENT

NEWCOMER FRANCIS HITS GAME-WINNING LAYUP AT BUZZER AS REVAMPED MAGIC TEAM OPENS THE SEASON WITH A THRILLING HOME VICTORY OVER VISITING MILWAUKEE.

By Brian Schmitz | Sentinel Staff Writer

The ending was fitting for a franchise that is trying to erase all the losing of last season: The Orlando Magic got to celebrate their first victory twice.

They had already beaten the buzzer and the Milwaukee Bucks 93-92 Wednesday night on Steve Francis’ driving lay-up and had merrily sprinted to the locker room to celebrate. But it was determined that Francis had been fouled with .02 seconds left. With the mournful Bucks still on the court, the Magic returned to cheers after several minutes. Coach Johnny Davis came back without his suit coat.

Francis hit the rim on purpose with his free-throw attempt to eat up the remaining time, and the Magic once again celebrated in front of 15,138 at TD Waterhouse Centre.

You couldn’t blame them for not wanting to come back out to finish the game properly after what the franchise went through last season.

They didn’t want to take a chance that this marvelous opening night might somehow be snatched away.

“That’s why I told the guys, `We’ll celebrate in here, not out there again,’ ” center Kelvin Cato said. “But, heck, what a great way to get Game 1.”

Francis debuted with a game-high 26 points and one-upped Michael Redd’s 19-foot bank-shot with 3.5 seconds left that gave the Bucks a 92-91 lead.

The Magic’s regular-season was scheduled to continue tonight in Miami against the state rival Heat, but the lockout interrupted the party.

We realize fans are longing for the work stoppage to end. Until then we will try to give you a dose of Magic basketball, looking back at previous seasons.

Today, you can relive a Nov. 3 game from Magic history…..

Nov. 3, 2004: Magic 93, Milwaukee Bucks 92 in Orlando:

We picked this Magic game because it signified a decided transition in the franchise’s direction:

A nervous rookie named Dwight Howard made his NBA debut at home on opening night. Not only that, but newcomer Steve Francis — playing the go-to role vacated by Tracy McGrady — made the winning shot.

The Magic practically debuted an entire team as then-general manager John Weisbrod brought in 11 new players.

Weisbrod, as unhappy with McGrady as T-Mac was with him, dealt McGrady to the Houston Rockets over the summer for a package of players headlined by Francis.

The Magic were trying to rebound from a disastrous 21-61 season. The lottery ping-pong balls came up with the No. 1 pick — and Howard, who would develop into a superstar.

Here’s the Magic-Bucks game story as it appeared in the Sentinel:

MAGIC MOMENT

NEWCOMER FRANCIS HITS GAME-WINNING LAYUP AT BUZZER AS REVAMPED MAGIC TEAM OPENS THE SEASON WITH A THRILLING HOME VICTORY OVER VISITING MILWAUKEE.

By Brian Schmitz | Sentinel Staff Writer

The ending was fitting for a franchise that is trying to erase all the losing of last season: The Orlando Magic got to celebrate their first victory twice.

They had already beaten the buzzer and the Milwaukee Bucks 93-92 Wednesday night on Steve Francis’ driving lay-up and had merrily sprinted to the locker room to celebrate. But it was determined that Francis had been fouled with .02 seconds left. With the mournful Bucks still on the court, the Magic returned to cheers after several minutes. Coach Johnny Davis came back without his suit coat.

Francis hit the rim on purpose with his free-throw attempt to eat up the remaining time, and the Magic once again celebrated in front of 15,138 at TD Waterhouse Centre.

You couldn’t blame them for not wanting to come back out to finish the game properly after what the franchise went through last season.

They didn’t want to take a chance that this marvelous opening night might somehow be snatched away.

“That’s why I told the guys, `We’ll celebrate in here, not out there again,’ ” center Kelvin Cato said. “But, heck, what a great way to get Game 1.”

Francis debuted with a game-high 26 points and one-upped Michael Redd’s 19-foot bank-shot with 3.5 seconds left that gave the Bucks a 92-91 lead.

MILWAUKEE – Ask any NBA “Lockout-ologist” to explain one of the key points of the league’s current labor negotiations, “basketball related income” (or B.R.I. if you really want to sound like you’re on the inside), and that person will explain B.R.I as revenue generated by ticket sales, TV contracts, concessions, parking and temporary stadium advertising.

But there is a whole different level of B.R.I. that gets much less media coverage than the figures impacting the hoopster millionaires and owner billionaires. Though there are fewer than 500 players in the NBA, there are tens of thousands of people across the country whose livelihoods depend on the games those fewer than 500 play.

In Milwaukee, the restaurants and bars surrounding the Bradley Center are now facing a stark reality with the prospect of the lockout wiping out a significant portion — or perhaps all — of the Bucks’ home schedule.

Wally Paget, who along with his brother and father has co-owned Buck Bradley’s on Old World Third Street since 1995, has had a tough time keeping up the morale of his staff.

“Especially now that it’s here,” Paget said of the lockout, which has already canceled the first two weeks of the season. “People didn’t think it would get here. You certainly do all you can for staff morale. They need an income to put food on their table.”

Then there are the hard numbers from the people who would know.

– Paget, who says the absence of the NBA in Milwaukee will reduce his gross revenues by 25 percent: “If the Bradley Center has about 140 dates a year, and you lose 43 Bucks dates, including preseason, you’re losing about a third of your premium nights for downtown business.”

– Peter Picciurro, manager of Miss Katie’s Diner on West Clybourn Street, which runs a shuttle to and from the Bradley Center: “An average day for us in food and drink is around $1,500. When the Bucks play, it’s around $2,200 to $3,000. That’s what would be lost.”

– Marty Petricca, an assistant manager at Major Goolsby’s, which sits a block away from the Bradley Center and is one of America’s original sports bars: “That’s 40 plus days of business out of commission for us. The Bucks are certainly a big part of what we do here.”

With the Bucks’ average attendance topping 15,000 per game last season, the team generated more than 600,000 fans arriving downtown from November until April — fans who are hungry and thirsty before and after the games are now fans who may leave their appetites and their collective millions of dollars at home this winter.

“We wouldn’t have to lay anybody off,” Picciurro said. “Everybody would be working, but not as often.”

Paget said the same thing: “It takes the same amount of crew to work the night of a Marquette game as it does the night of a Bucks game. But we’d only be able to utilize that crew two nights instead of four. It’s not so much that we would have to lay people off. We’re just coming out of the summer season, which is slow. It would be a case of us not making any new hires and the people we have working a lot less hours.”

Paget said the 1998-99 NBA lockout hit Buck Bradley’s hard because the restaurant was still in its formative years.

“We’re a lot more established now,” he said. “But there are only two other places on the block that were around in ’98. Some other owners have been asking me what it was like back then.”

Restaurants close to the Bradley Center have made some lockout contingency plans.

“We do sponsor a bunch of other teams,” Petricca said. “This helps us keep from losing more than other places.”

The Milwaukee Admirals, an American Hockey League team, still plays all its home games downtown.

“We have a great relationship with the Admirals,” Paget said. “Their fans really turn out for us. That’s different than it was in ’98.

“And the Bradley Center has tried to prepare for this as best they could. The recent five-day run of the Cirque de Soleil. That was seven shows. It wasn’t a Bucks game, but anything beats a dark building.”

As November approaches, many sports fans have already tuned out the non-news reported from the moribund NBA labor talks. But those who make a living serving burgers and beer in the areas surrounding pro hoops arenas are paying close attention to the talks in hopes of hearing some good news about their Basketball Related Income.

“You have to,” Paget said. “But it’s difficult because it’s something you can’t control.”

The Milwaukee Bucks made another big trade just before the draft. Now they must hope the name they’ll be linked with forever doesn’t come back to haunt them.

Milwaukee picked guard Jimmer Fredette with the 10th pick of Thursday’s NBA draft, but were expected to send his rights to Sacramento as part of a three-team trade that also includes Charlotte.

A person familiar with the deal said the Bobcats will send 19th overall pick Tobias Harris to the Bucks as part of Thursday’s deal. The Bucks also received Charlotte forward Stephen Jackson, guard Shaun Livingston and Sacramento guard Beno Udrih, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been announced.

Harris worked out for the Bucks earlier in June and turns 19 next month. He’ll be given time to develop behind Jackson for a team that’s in need of talented scorers.

Harris played just one season at Tennessee, where he averaged 15.3 points. He was a finalist for the 2010 Naismith High School Player of the Year Award and competed in McDonald’s All-America game.

“Tobias Harris welcome to Milwaukee …. congrats,” Bucks point guard Brandon Jennings posted on Twitter.

Milwaukee also held the 40th pick in the draft.

The Bucks could use an eye-popping scorer like Fredette, who averaged 28.9 points his senior season at BYU and won nearly every collegiate national player of the year honor, after being the worst-shooting, lowest-scoring team in the NBA last year.

Instead, they’ll receive the three veterans in a trade – similar to what happened 13 years ago in the 1998 draft.

That year, Milwaukee selected Dirk Nowitzki ninth overall, but had already agreed to trade his rights and those of the 19th pick, Pat Garrity, for Robert “Tractor” Traylor, who was the sixth selection of the draft.

Nowitzki went on to be a star and eventual NBA champion this year with the Mavericks. Traylor lasted just parts of two seasons in Milwaukee before being traded and started just 73 games over seven seasons before his NBA career ended.

Even Garrity made a bigger impact on the league than Traylor did.

Still, the new additions provide talent in the backcourt around Jennings and backup Keyon Dooling.

Udrih can play either guard position and is a career 35.8 percent shooter from 3-point range. Jackson can play shooting guard or small forward and is considered an upgrade over John Salmons, who is headed to the Kings. Livingston provides depth.

Jackson’s season ended early last year because of a left hamstring injury, but he had been working out at the Bobcats facility this summer and dropped to 225 pounds, 20 pounds lighter than during the season. He averaged 18.5 points last seasons after three straight seasons over 20 with Golden State and Charlotte.

The Bucks understand Jackson may be reluctant to move again – his seventh team of his career and third move in the last five seasons, but expect him to play a vital leadership role in a team looking to get back to the playoffs after an unexpected 35-47 season.

Milwaukee still has a need down low to help former No. 1 pick Andrew Bogut. The Bucks hope power forward Drew Gooden will be healthy again after missing half of last season with plantar fasciitis.

After that, Milwaukee has a group of undersized forwards that includes Ersan Ilyasova, Jon Brockman, Carlos Delfino and Larry Sanders. The Bucks also made a qualifying offer to defensive specialist Luc Richard Mbah a Moute to give them the option to match any contract offers the third-year player might receive.

For the third straight year, the Bucks made a big splash before the draft.

In 2008, general manager John Hammond dealt Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons for Richard Jefferson. In 2009, Jefferson departed for Bruce Bowen, Kurt Thomas and Amir Johnson. Last year, Hammond traded Dan Gadzuric and Charlie Bell for Corey Maggette.

Now Maggette is gone, too, after being hurt early and failing to find consistent minutes or a role in Milwaukee, in an exchange of contracts for Jackson, an explosive scorer with a volatile personality.