By MIKE CURTIS The Dallas Morning News
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The Dallas Mavericks’ injury woes have reached a new low.

All-Star guard Kyrie Irving suffered a torn ACL in his left knee during Monday night’s loss to the Sacramento Kings, the team announced Tuesday. Irving will miss the rest of the season, a person familiar with the injury confirmed to The Dallas Morning News .

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It’s the latest injury blow for the Mavericks, who’ve dealt with long-term injuries since the team opened training camp in Las Vegas.

A wave of silence fell over American Airlines Center in the waning minutes of the first quarter when Irving went crashing to the floor after an awkward landing as he was fouled.

The superstar immediately clutched his left leg, recognized the need for medical attention and signaled to the bench for a team trainer. The entire team surrounded their leader while he lay on the court in visible pain.

Despite suffering the devastating injury, Irving remained in the game so he could shoot his free throws. It was a sign of resilience and an ode to his longtime mentor and friend, Kobe Bryant, who also remained in the game to shoot free throws after sustaining a season-ending Achilles injury in 2013.

“Just unlucky,” said Mavericks coach Jason Kidd. “Just hope that he’s healthy and it’s not serious but the injuries that we’ve had this season, guys are trying to hold it together. It seems every time we’re getting close to getting someone back, someone goes down.”

Irving’s 14th season is cut short after a brutal injury that will severely decrease the Mavericks’ chances of making the playoffs. He finishes with averages of 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.6 assists in 50 games. This was one of his more efficient seasons, with shooting splits of 47.3% from the field, 40.1% from 3 and 91.6% from the free throw line.

Irving was charged with serving as the leader of the Mavericks long before the franchise dealt Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, but he took on an extra load after the team’s blockbuster to acquire Anthony Davis — who suffered an adductor strain in his debut on Feb. 8.

Irving averaged 39.3 minutes over his last 10 games since Doncic was traded on Feb. 1, including five consecutive games of nearly 40 minutes or more.

A second consecutive defeat was unfortunate, but the loss of Irving — and a subsequent injury to Jaden Hardy — was a painful reminder of how the Mavericks, once considered a serious championship contender, have become one of the NBA’s most bruised and battered teams.