Kyrie Irving suffered a knee injury in the Mavericks vs. Kings match.
Kyrie Irving clutched his left knee as he fell awkwardly to the floor at the baseline late in the first quarter and then collapsed. And the Mavericks knew right away that the injury gods have no mercy. Or heart.
The Mavericks’ emotional leader and leading scorer was ruled out of the game before halftime after a sprained left knee in a 122-98 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Monday. He never returned, although he did make two free throws in apparent agony with 2:35 left in the first quarter.
From then on, the game became an afterthought as the Mavericks never held onto the lead, and the game spiraled out of control in the third quarter, when the Kings’ lead shrank from nine to 29 points, with Sacramento leading 85-56 with 3:47 left in the third.
Even more significant was Irving’s injury. If he has to miss any significant time, it's a terrible injury.
"Unfortunate," coach Jason Kidd said. "(We) hope he's healthy and it's not serious. But with the injuries we've had this season, guys are trying to hold onto other organizations to come back. And then it seems like every time we get close to getting someone back, someone else loses.
"We're running out of organizations here. But guys keep fighting."
Irving helped the Mavericks get off to a good start, but as he motored downcourt and raced through Sacramento's defense toward the basket, he made a mistake and broke through the paint and fell to the baseline near the fan to the left of the basket.
Irving stood there, lying on his stomach, motionless for a long moment, then Mavericks personnel reached for him. Soon, the entire team surrounded him.
When Irving was helped to his feet, he was walking toward the locker room, hugging two assistants, but then realized he had two free throws.
He was helped to the free-throw line and, with no weight on his left foot, made two free throws to put the Mavericks ahead 23-18 with 2:35 left in the first quarter.
"Kai's a tough guy," Kidd said. "I asked him (when) they were taking him off the court: Are you okay? If you don't shoot, you're out. They took him to the free-throw line, shot the free throw, and then called him out.
The Mavericks were not the same after that. How can they be after watching their All-Star fall?
"It's bad that we keep losing players," Naji Marshall said. "But everyone's trying to stay positive. All we can do is wait for those players to come back, wish them a speedy recovery, and go out there and keep fighting."
"Kai is amazing. We're just praying for him. He's our leader, our guy. I just hope he recovers."
Anthony Davis was one of the first to get Irving off the court after the free throw. At a time like this, you have to wonder what the Mavericks did to make the NBA's injury gods so angry.
The Mavericks have already left Derek Lively II, Daniel Gafford, and Anthony Davis without a center. They were also missing P.J. Washington on Monday night.
They were hopeful that Caleb Martin, who was replaced by Quentin Grimes last month, would be available soon, but the Mavericks have been plagued by injuries.
To make matters worse, guard Jaden Hardy went down in the third quarter with a sprained ankle and never returned. By then, the game was out of hand, but this team's "next player" mantra will be put to the test in the future.
That made a big difference against the Kings.
"Anyway, after losing Kai, we've got to make some adjustments," Marshall said. "We've tried to play faster. We're behind a lot of players now. We still have to do our job and get out there and play."
Irving entered the game averaging 25 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game. He's played in 50 of their 62 games and has been in great form recently, scoring 30 points in five of his previous seven games.
After Irving was out, the Mavericks tried to gain some momentum, but the Kings lost a crucial game in the Western Conference standings.
The Mavericks dropped to 32-30 and are 10th in the West.
The Kings, who are 3-0 against the Mavericks this season, are 32-28 and have a slight lead over the Mavericks in points. And if Irving is out for a while, the game won't be any easier.
"Everybody probably took some of the wind out of their sails when they saw Kai (down)," Kidd said. "Their leader was laying there. But, knowing Kai was out, the next guy came up. But we're outnumbered."
So what was Kidd's message after that?
"Take a break," he said. "Just take a break. And we've got to stick together, keep fighting. And keep getting better at what you do, and that's what we're going to do."
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