ORLANDO — The Orlando Magic will host the Dallas Mavericks on Thursday, and they will have two key players return to the lineup. 

Magic coach Jamahl Mosley announced that Anthony Black is available to play after he missed the last two games with a right quad contusion. Wendell Carter Jr. will also be available after missing Tuesday’s contest against the Washington Wizards with left knee soreness. 

“Depth and health are always key for a team, so just being able to have him back in the fold is going to be very important for us,” Mosley said about Black. 

Mosley will also experience some familiarity with the Mavericks in the building. 

From 2014-2021, Mosley served as an assistant coach in Dallas before taking the head coaching position with Orlando. It has been several years since he was a part of the organization, but he still has fond memories of his time with it.  

“Dallas was a great seven years of my life,” Mosley said before the game. “The people that you meet there, the friends, the organization, what it has meant to me and my family. 

“So, being able to go against them, they still have some people there that were there when I was still with the group, but it's always a great experience to go against such a good organization.” 

The Magic are coming off a 126-109 win over the Washington that got them back in the win column after losing two-straight games. Orlando was able to pull away in the second half, and Mosley highlighted what worked. 

“Our defensive keys,” he said. “Being able to get to stops, get out and run; our guys being sure we took care of the basketball. But again, just our defense, being able to really hang our head on the defensive end to be able to create the easy baskets. I know we got a few of those early on in that second half.” 

On the defensive end of the floor, Mosley believes success begins with the backcourt.  

“I think it really starts with our guards,” Mosley said. “You want to make sure we're getting into the basketball, disrupting early on in their offense. But then the last piece of that is once our guards have done their job defensively and disrupted as much as possible, it's finishing possessions out. 

“We had a couple games before the break that we gave up offensive rebounds as well as the Phoenix game, but our ability to rebound the basketball and finish out possessions has been key as well as the guards being able to disrupt night in and night out.” 

Mosley also credited Paolo Banchero’s defensive effort.  

“I'd be remiss to say the other piece behind that is that if you notice, Paolo’s been taking on some of the toughest challenges night in and night out, and that helps a ton when you've got a big guard that can sit down and guard multiple positions.” 

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