BOSTON — The story of Dwyane Wade can’t be written without some help from the Boston Celtics.
The Miami Heat point guard has had both some pretty high and low moments over the years against the C’s both at TD Garden and elsewhere. And with Wade set to retire at the end of the season and a matchup with the Celtics in the playoffs at any point highly unlikely, Monday’s tilt in Boston likely was the last time the 37-year-old will play at The Garden.
Prior to the game, Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge gave Wade a piece of the parquet floor (and cracked a joke in the process), and each time the guard checked into the game it was met with a pretty good ovation.
Following the game, Wade admitted that he was just trying to focus on getting his team (which is one of four teams jostling for the Eastern Conference’s final three playoff spots) a victory. And though that eluded them, with the Celtics earning a 110-105 win, he reflected on what the C’s organization has meant to him.
“Nothing, just trying to play the game, man,” Wade said of his feelings on the last time playing at the Garden. “You try to enjoy when the crowd does an ovation. You have to play the game and I thought I was doing that to help my team get a win and figure out how to do that. Right now, you look back on it and obviously just a lot of moments with this organization. We’ve played them another time. We’ve had a lot of playoff battles, a lot of them lost and a lot of them won.
“Just another one of those franchises that helped myself and this organization know what it takes to win and get to that next level,” Wade continued. “We had to beat this organization to get there once we developed the Big Three. Appreciate them pushing us. They were the big brothers for a long time and we eventually (beat them), you know, but we’re thankful for what they did from that standpoint.”
Wade finished his night with 17 points off the bench. Though not entirely a vintage performance, it was a nice way for the legendary guard to go out.
