The Golden State Warriors’ 137-131 overtime victory over the Dallas Mavericks on March 23, 2026, at the American Airlines Center should have been a night to celebrate. Instead, the win was overshadowed by a devastating blow: Moses Moody, the 23-year-old guard who had just returned from a 10-game absence, suffered a gruesome non-contact left knee injury in the waning moments of overtime. The incident left both teammates and fans reeling, and cast a cloud over the Warriors’ already injury-ravaged season.
With just over a minute left in overtime, Moody made a pivotal play—stealing the ball from Mavericks rookie Cooper Flagg. The court opened up for what looked like a sure breakaway dunk, but as Moody planted his left foot to rise for the slam, disaster struck. His knee buckled, sending him crashing to the hardwood beneath the basket. The play continued for several seconds as Moody lay on the floor, clutching his left knee in obvious agony. The Warriors’ bench reacted instantly, with head coach Steve Kerr and staff racing out to check on their fallen player. Draymond Green knelt beside Moody, offering words of comfort, while Stephen Curry sat on the bench, visibly distraught with his head in his hands.
After the next whistle, arena workers brought out a stretcher. The game was paused for several minutes as trainers attended to Moody, who was eventually wheeled off the court to a standing ovation from the crowd. The somber mood in the arena spoke volumes. According to Nick Friedell of The Athletic, Moody was seen heading to the X-ray room postgame, moving slowly on crutches and sporting a large knee brace. He was scheduled to fly back to the Bay Area with the team for an MRI on Tuesday, March 24. The severity of the injury was not immediately clear, but the initial signs were ominous.
Head coach Steve Kerr didn’t mince words after the game. “We don’t know what it is, but it sure looked bad,” Kerr told reporters. “Just hoping for the best.” The Warriors’ locker room, already battered by a season full of injuries, fell eerily silent. According to Warriors rookie Brandin Podziemski, the mood was reminiscent of the night Jimmy Butler tore his ACL earlier in the season—a moment that had already left the team shaken.
Moody’s performance before the injury had been nothing short of stellar. In his first appearance since March 2, he logged 34 minutes as a starter, scoring 23 points on 8-of-20 shooting (including 4-of-11 from three-point range), along with three rebounds, three assists, three steals, and two blocks. He was a disruptive defensive force, especially against Flagg in the second half. “Moses is a guy who does everything right ... and he changed the game for us tonight,” Draymond Green said in a postgame interview with NBA on ESPN Radio. “Everything started going bad, he picked up his defensive intensity, knocked shots down, he changed the game for us. To see him go out like that [was] bad.”
Moody’s return was eagerly anticipated by the Warriors, who had missed his presence during a 10-game stretch in March due to a right wrist sprain. Before that absence, Moody had played in 59 games this season, averaging a career-high 11.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.6 assists per game, while shooting 44.1% from the field and 40.2% from beyond the arc. The 2021 first-round pick out of Arkansas had started 49 of the 60 games he’d appeared in during his fifth NBA campaign. This season also marked the first year of a three-year, $39 million contract extension he signed prior to the season—a deal that underscored the Warriors’ faith in his future.
But Moody’s setback is just the latest in a long line of injuries that have plagued Golden State throughout the 2025-26 campaign. The Warriors’ injury report reads like a who’s who of NBA talent: Jimmy Butler is out for the season with a torn ACL suffered in January; Stephen Curry has been sidelined for 22 consecutive games with a persistent right knee issue, his return timeline still uncertain; Seth Curry is nursing a left adductor strain; Al Horford is battling a right soleus strain; and Quinten Post, De’Anthony Melton, and Kristaps Porzingis have all missed time due to various ailments. The mounting injuries have forced head coach Steve Kerr to shuffle lineups and rely heavily on the team’s depth—a luxury that’s quickly running thin.
Despite these challenges, the Warriors managed to snap a three-game losing streak with their hard-fought win over Dallas. The victory improved their record to 34-38, keeping them in 10th place in the Western Conference and within striking distance of the play-in tournament. The Mavericks, meanwhile, were eliminated from playoff contention with the loss. The Warriors now trail the Portland Trail Blazers by just 1.5 games, with 10 contests remaining in the regular season. Every win counts, but the cost of Monday night’s triumph may prove steep.
For Moody, the timing of the injury couldn’t have been worse. After working his way back from a wrist injury and reestablishing himself as a key two-way contributor, he now faces an uncertain future. “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 [Monday night], by the way.” The Warriors’ staff and fans will anxiously await the results of his MRI, hoping for a best-case scenario in a season that’s offered precious few breaks.
As the Warriors prepare for the final stretch of the regular season, questions abound. Can they weather yet another major absence? Will Stephen Curry return in time to make a difference? And can Golden State’s battered roster muster enough resilience to secure a playoff berth in the ultra-competitive Western Conference?
One thing’s for sure: the Warriors’ path forward just got a whole lot tougher. As they fly home to the Bay Area with Moody and await word on his injury, the team finds itself, once again, searching for answers and hoping that their luck—at long last—will turn.