Isaiah Thomas stole the spotlight from Paul Pierce, scoring 28 points to lead Boston to their seventh straight victory, a 107-102 win over the Los Angeles Clippers in the former Celtics captain's final game in the Garden.
The match was a chance to farewell Pierce, who helped the NBA's most-decorated franchise return to the top of the league.
A first-round draft pick out of Kansas in 1998, Pierce toiled in Boston through the down years of ML Carr and Rick Pitino, watching as the once-proud team lost a franchise-record 18 games in a row while he was injured in 2006-07.
The next year, after the Celtics acquired Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, Boston won their NBA-record 17th championship, and Pierce was the finals MVP.
"The memories are always going to be with me," Pierce said. "(I will) always have a relationship with these guys; it's just something that when you win a championship, you know it forms a natural bond with you and your teammates that you share with each other forever. And so I'll forever hold that."
Pierce's No.34 Celtics jerseys filled the crowd and supporters held up signs thanking Pierce.
Pierce, 39, has said he would retire after the season.
He had not played since December 31 but former Celtics coach Doc Rivers put him in the starting line-up so he could have a fitting farewell.
It was Pierce's 630th game at the new Boston Garden.
His only points on Sunday came on a three after checking in with 19 seconds left and the game out of reach.
Pierce started and played the first five minutes and then went to the bench - even as the crowd chanted his name, egged on by the Celtics cheerleaders and even Thomas himself.
As the crowd was filtering out to get home in time for the Super Bowl, Pierce walked back onto the parquet floor, dropped to his knees, and kissed the leprechaun at centre court.
In the earlier match, Kyle Lowry played through illness and injury to finish with 15 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his ninth NBA career triple-double in helping the Toronto Raptors beat the Brooklyn Nets 103-95.
Share
