Mavericks vs Magic Preview, Injury Report, and Game Thread: The trip East continues

Saying hello to an old coaching friend

The Dallas Mavericks (35-38) play an early Thursday night game on the road against the Orlando Magic (35-38). After winning back-to-back games for the first time since mid-February, the Mavericks were waxed by the New York Knicks on Tuesday night. The Magic are riding a three-game winning streak, beating the Wizards, Lakers, and Hornets in succession. Here’s the things to know before the game:

• WHO: Dallas Mavericks at Orlando Magic
• WHAT: The swing through the East continues
• WHERE: Kia Center, Orlando, Florida
• WHEN: 6:80 pm CST
• HOW: NBAtv, KFAA, MavsTV, and Playback with Kirk and David

At the moment, Dallas has the fewest number of injured players listed as OUT as we’ve seen in weeks. To list them: Kyrie Irving, Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, Dante Exum, O-Max, and PJ Washington (that is getting concerning). Anthony Davis is listed as questionable but is expected to play. Caleb Martin is also listed as questionable, which is actually an upgrade. Brandon Williams is questionable as well. For the Magic, Jalen Suggs and Mo Wagner are out all season with injuries.

This is going to be a much better test insofar as how BACK Anthony Davis actually is. He sort of jogged around against the Brooklyn Nets but didn’t show much either way. The Magic are good at defense and Dallas will need AD’s scoring if PJ Washington is going to miss another game (he is). The 4-5 action between Davis and Kai Jones is fun, so let’s see if Dallas pushes that against a lengthy Magic team.

As you can tell below, you can join me and some other Mavs Moneyball guys in a room on Playback (embedded below) during the game (though I may not be able to start it until halftime). Also, consider joining Josh and I on Pod Maverick live after the game on YouTube, we should start after the game. Thanks so much for spending time with us here at Mavs Moneyball. Let’s go Mavs!