Mavericks' biggest Kyrie Irving fear becomes a nightmare at worst possible time

The Dallas Mavericks' season has been defined by injuries, and the blows keep coming while they're down. P.J. Washington's right ankle continues to give him issues, and Dallas' three main big men are all out due to various serious injuries.

Dereck Lively II is dealing with a stress fracture in his ankle, Anthony Davis is out with an adductor strain, and Daniel Gafford is out with an MCL sprain, and things are poised to get better in that department considering that they are all set to be reevaluated on March 6. Caleb Martin is also poised to make a return soon, and fans were beginning to get excited because it looked like they were going to get healthy at the perfect time.

With all of the injuries, Kyrie Irving was the one who held down the ship and willed the team to wins as he was playing at an elite level, and now it looks like he may not be able to do that for some time after suffering an injury against the Sacramento Kings on Monday night.

Kyrie Irving suffers brutal left knee sprain against Kings

At the end of the first quarter, Irving was driving to the rim, and went to the ground hard. Irving laid on the floor for over a minute before being helped up by his teammates, and Davis helped him to the free throw line. With MVP chants echoing from the American Airlines Center, Irving drilled both free throws before being helped to the locker room by Davis.

Irving could not put much pressure at all on his left knee, and the Mavericks have already announced that his injury is a left knee sprain and that he won't return tonight. Fans showered Irving with loud cheers as he was helped to the locker room, and the potential magnitude of the injury could be felt right away inside the arena.

The Mavericks have been the most unlucky team in the league this season when it comes to injuries, and if Irving's injury ends up being serious and he ends up missing significant time, then fans will be devastated.

Mavericks fans know how serious knee sprains can be, as Gafford's injury was initially ruled a knee sprain before finding out that it was an MCL sprain, and fans will be on the lookout for all news surrounding Irving as the next few days go on. The seriousness of the injury Irving suffered remains unknown, but considering how much pain he looked to be in, it did not look great.

Irving's workload has been massive recently with the lack of shot creation that Dallas has been dealing with ever since trading Luka Doncic, and he looked to be their one hope to remain competitive until the bigs get healthy. His leadership, passion, and offensive excellence have helped the Mavs significantly over the last few weeks, and without him, Dallas would likely be in the lottery right now.

His performance has truly flown under the radar as he remains one of the most underrated players in the NBA, and seeing him lay on the floor in pain was the worst sight that Mavericks fans could have imagined. Irving lays his body on the line every single night for the Mavericks, and fans will be praying that they get to see him take the floor again this season.

The fate of the season could rest on Irving's injury diagnosis, and we'll have you covered with all the latest.