Moses Moody’s triumphant return to the Warriors ended with the guard being taken off the court on a stretcher after he suffered what appeared to be a major knee injury in Golden State’s 137-131 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night at American Airlines Arena.
Moody, who was cleared before the game after missing 10 straight with a wrist injury, scored 23 points, but his left knee crumpled under him as he was attempting a breakaway dunk with 58 seconds remaining in the game.
Moody remained on the court for several minutes and was carted to the locker room by medical staff.
The severity of the injury was not immediately known, but Warriors coach Steve Kerr said postgame that x-rays had already been taken and Moody was waiting for the results in the locker room with his teammates.
“We don’t know what it is, but it sure looked bad,” Kerr told reporters in Dallas following the game. “We’re just praying that it’s not too serious. But it sure looked serious.”
Moody had just stolen the ball from Mavericks rookie standout Cooper Flagg and was dribbling all alone, planted his left leg to go up for the shot and instead lost the ball as he crumpled to the court. Play continued at the Dallas end until the ball went out of bounds. After the whistle, Kerr put his hands to his face as the Mavericks’ home arena went silent.
The Warriors led 136-131 when Moody was injured, and only one more point was scored in a victory that extended Dallas’ home losing streak to 12 games.
It has been a strong year for Moody, who has averaged career highs in points (11.9) and rebounds (3.3) in 59 games this season, including 48 starts. He was in the first year of a three-year, $37.5 million extension signed before last season.
Golden State, which was again without Stephen Curry (knee injury), Jimmy Butler III (season-ending knee injury) and Al Horford (calf), had lost three in a row and four of the first five games on the road trip. The Warriors return home to play the Brooklyn Nets on Wednesday night.
The Warriors (34-38) are 10th in the Western Conference standings with 10 games left in the regular season. Earlier Monday, Kerr said Curry would play in any potential play-in tournament games if he is healthy enough.
Check back for more on this developing story.
Warriors guard hurt vs. Mavericks
