At 40 years of age, Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki can be viewed as an elder statesman in the NBA. However, that didn't stop him from setting a new record in the final home game of his career.
Nowitzki and the Mavs served as hosts to the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night, resulting in a 120-109 victory for Dallas.
At 40 years and 294 days of age, Nowitzki became the oldest player in NBA history to record 30 points in a game. According to Justin Kubatko of StatMuse, Michael Jordan had previously held the record.
Dirk logged 33 minutes in Tuesday's win, racking up a team-high 30 points on 11-of-31 shooting from the field (5-of-14 from beyond the arc), eight rebounds, three assists and one block.
“I've always said whenever somebody scores a lot of points like that, it's never just that player,” said Suns sharpshooter Jamal Crawford, who had his fourth 50-point game and first since Dec. 20, 2008 at Charlotte. “I'm sorry we didn't get the win, but obviously it was Dirk's night tonight, so you don't feel all the way bad.”
Nowitzki's season and career will come to an end on Wednesday night, when the Mavs travel to San Antonio for a matchup against the Spurs. According to a report from ESPN, Dallas head coach Rick Carlisle is planning to play Nowitzki, who has spent a record 21 seasons with the franchise.
Wednesday night's Mavs-Spurs game is scheduled to tip inside the AT&T Center at 8:00 p.m. ET.
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