The Golden State Warriors' season from hell just got a whole lot worse. Dubs wing Moses Moody suffered a scary non-contact knee injury in their 137-131 overtime win over the Dallas Mavericks.
In his first game back after missing 10 games with a right wrist sprain, Moody injured his knee on a breakaway dunk attempt after stealing the ball from Mavs rookie Cooper Flagg, with Moody reacting mid-air to the injury and falling hard to the floor.
Moody was later stretchered off the court, with his left knee covered in an orange covering, as teammates and coaches gave him their best wishes. After the game, Steve Kerr didn't have much of an update on the severity of Moody's knee injury, other than that he had undergone X-rays with Rick Celebini, the Vice President of Player Health and Performance.
“Just saw his leg buckle and saw him go down in a heap of pain,” a somber Kerr told reporters. “We don’t know what it is, but it sure looked bad. Just hoping for the best. Whatever the best-case scenario is, that's what we're hoping for. But it looked bad.”
After undergoing X-rays, Moody was seen moving around on crutches alongside Celebrini, with a big brace around his knee, per The Athletic's Nick Friedell. Kerr said that Moody will fly home with the team to receive an MRI on Tuesday, with the severity of the injury still needing to be determined.
The state of the Warriors right now
The extent of Moody's knee injury remains up in the air, with the close-up shot not looking encouraging. And as a result, it has understandably shaken the Warriors locker room to its core once again. Brandin Podziemski described the locker room atmosphere as similar to when Jimmy Butler tore his ACL back in January.
“Same as what happened with Jimmy,” Podziemski said of the Dubs' locker room post-game. “No [real] words. You just hate to see it. Especially to the good people in life.”
It's another stroke of bad injury luck in a season of some truly debilitating injuries for Golden State.
Between Butler's season-ending injury, Stephen Curry's current 22-game absence from patellofemoral pain syndrome, and bone bruising, Al Horford's pile of age-related injuries, Kristaps Porzingis's lingering health issues, and now Moody's gruesome knee injury, it makes for a truly cursed season for Golden State.
Regardless, Moody's injury will derail what's been a productive season for him. In 60 games this season, Moses Moody has averaged 12.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists on 40.1% on 3FGs. And before his wrist sprain, Moody looked as though he was on the verge of taking a real leap, averaging 15.9 points in 10 games in February.
But ultimately, what makes this injury so devastating is the fact it happened to a guy like Moody. Podziemski described Moody as a “quiet soul,” both wise and hardworking. And for Kerr, he pointed to the work ethic he puts in daily.
“Mo is such a great human being,” Kerr said. “Great teammate, wonderful guy to coach, just puts in the work every day. And was brilliant [tonight] by the way. Played so well. Defensively, changed the game for us with his ball pressure. And knocked down big shots. To finally have him back … and then for that to happen. Again, we're praying it's not too serious, but it sure looked serious.”
The Warriors will look to get more clarity on Moody in the coming days.
