Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks suffers horrific injury

A gruesome scene happened with 5:59 remaining in the third quarter of Monday’s game between the Dallas Mavericks and Utah Jazz at American Airlines Center.

Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks tumbled to the floor after he was jogging on the right side of the basket on Utah’s end of the court. No one touched Hendricks as he tripped over himself and landed with his right leg bent sideways, and wound up suffering a fractured right fibula and dislocated right ankle.

As fans looked on in horror, paramedics immediately rushed onto the court and carted Hendricks off the floor. Play resumed about 15 minutes later with the Mavs nursing a 64-59 lead.

“I gave him a hand on the shoulder, but I’m sure he was in shock,” Mavs guard Kyrie Irving said. “I unfortunately have been a part of a few of those injuries happening on the court.

“Just praying for him, praying for his family, praying that he’ll be back even stronger. It does something to the psyche as an athlete when you see something like that, but then you’ve got to keep playing. But we definitely feel for him, I feel for him and I’m just praying that he’s OK.”

Mavs center Dereck Lively II said of the injury to Hendricks: “I got a flashback to Gordon Hayward. Prayers to (Hendricks).

“You never want that to happen to anybody, no matter if it’s your worst enemy. Prayers to him and his family.”

On October 17, 2017, while he was playing his first game for Boston, Hayward suffered a fractured tibia and dislocated ankle in his left leg of the Celtics’ regular-season opener against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Hayward landed awkwardly on the floor following an attempted alley-oop pass from Irving, who was his Celtics’ teammate at the time.

HARDY EXTREMELY HIGH ON IRVING: From where he’s sitting, Utah Jazz coach Will Hardy said more folks should be talking more about and gushing over Mavs guard Kyrie Irving.

Hardy said Irving’s skill set is off the charts and is some of the best in the history of the NBA.

“He’s way better than he’s talked about,” Hardy said before Monday’s game. “I think we also get blinded by the spectacular plays.”

Hardy believes Irving is such a phenomenal player that he should give a master class on how to shoot a basketball.

“He’s one of the most fundamentally sound players that we have,” Hardy said. “When you watch Kyrie shoot an open pullup jumper, it’s how you would teach someone to shoot it.

“His base is perfect and wide, he jumps straight up and down, he holds his follow through, he lands on two feet, and he barely hits the rim.”

And that’s not the only thing about Irving that Hardy is enamored with.

“The spectacular plays that he makes, the crazy finishes, the unbelievable ball handling is the stuff that makes highlight reels and Instagrams and all that stuff, but his fundamentals are unbelievable,” Hardy said. “I obviously have not been around the NBA for its entirety. But you’d be hard-pressed to name 10 guys that’s ever played in this league that’s more skilled than he is — in my opinion.”

BRIEFLY: Mavs forward Maxi Kleber (right hamstring strain) and guard Dante Exum (right wrist surgery) did not play Monday and will not make the trip to Minnesota for Tuesday’s game against the Timberwolves. Coach Jason Kidd said Kleber’s injury is not anything long-term. “Unfortunately, he aggravated his hamstring in that game (this past Saturday) against the (Phoenix) Suns,” Kidd said. “We’ll see how everything turns out here the next couple of days and get a timeline.” . . . Kidd said the Mavs played with some low energy during the 12-point loss to the Suns on Saturday. “In talking to the group, they felt good,” he said. “Maybe a little complacent. Understanding, the Suns are a good team. Unfortunately, we just didn’t have the mentality that we had against the Spurs (in the opener). It’s something that we as a group talked about, and hopefully we can learn from that.” . . . Before Monday’s game, Kidd discussed his new players and what they’re up against when playing alongside players with the pedigree of Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving. “When you play with stars, it takes time,” Kidd said. “Playing with the best in the world can be a little nerve-wracking at times. So, you have to be patient, you have to go through the good and the bad and learn about each other as we go forward in this journey. Just understanding the different schemes defensively, and then playing with Luka and (Irving). This is no different than when we made the trade for (Irving). It just takes time.”

X: @DwainPrice