The TD Garden crowd showed the love for Dirk Nowitzki on Friday, but the future Hall of Famer failed to hold up his end of the bargain.
Likely playing in his last game in Boston, the 40-year-old Nowitzki went scoreless in 16 minutes in his team’s 114-93 loss to the Celtics. The German forward entered the game needing just two points to surpass Kobe Bryant as the all-time leading scorer for a Western Conference player at TD Garden.
Green Teamers cheered Nowitzki throughout, especially during the game’s closing moments. With a Boston victory will in-hand, the Celtics allowed Nowitzki to take two wide-open 3-pointers in the final minute, but the Mavericks star came up empty both times — much to the dismay of the Celtics and their fans.
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As you can see, everyone wanted those shots to go in.
“No question,” Celtics head coach Brad Stevens said when asked if he was rooting for Nowitzki to convert on his 3’s, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics postgame coverage. “I’ve rooted for the opponent to score two times in my life: Paul Pierce and Dirk Nowitzki. I was sitting over there just like everyone else in the building saying ‘go in, go in.’
“But what a special player. Kudos to him.”
Nowitzki, who many expect to retire next summer, appreciated the love from Celtics fans.
“Super sweet, super emotional,” Nowitzki said, via NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg. “It’s sweet when not only your home fans but the fans on the road appreciate what you’ve done in the last two decades. I appreciate the fans of Boston and, unfortunately, really disappointed I couldn’t even make one.”
As for failing to break Bryant’s record?
“Aww man, I might have to come back for one more year.”
