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.
The severity of the injury was not immediately known. Moody remained of the court for several minutes and was carted to the locker room by medical staff.
“We don’t know what it is, but it sure looked bad,” Warriors coach Steve 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.
Golden State, which was again without Stephen Curry (knee injury), Jimmy Butler III (season-ending knee injury), Al Horford: out (calf) and Gary Payton II (knee) 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.
Check back for more on this developing story.