The Golden State Warriors have suffered another devastating injury blow.
Guard Moses Moody will miss the rest of the season after tearing his left patellar tendon late in overtime of Monday night’s 137-131 win over the Dallas Mavericks. Surgery is scheduled for later this week.
Moody went down with 58.5 seconds left in overtime while attempting an uncontested dunk off a steal against Cooper Flagg. His knee buckled on landing and he went down in agony before being carted off the court on a stretcher. He waved to the crowd as he was taken off, drawing an emotional response from fans, teammates and Mavericks players alike.
“Everybody on the floor was just horrified,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “Players care about players. They know how fragile this business is and how injuries can be catastrophic.”
The 23-year-old had just returned from a 10-game absence with a sprained right wrist. In his return, he was brilliant, finishing with 23 points and three steals, all against Flagg and all in the fourth quarter or overtime. His defensive pressure helped fuel an 11-0 Warriors run that broke a tie to open the fourth.
“Was brilliant, by the way,” Kerr said. “Changed the game for us with his ball pressure and knocked down big shots. So great to finally have him back. And then for that to happen, you’re just praying it’s not too serious.”
Moody was averaging career highs in points (12.1), rebounds (3.3), assists (1.6) and steals (1.0) this season.
The Warriors are already without Jimmy Butler, who is out for the season following ACL surgery, and are still waiting on Stephen Curry’s return from a right knee injury. Golden State is headed to the play-in tournament in the Western Conference.
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