The date was Feb. 5, 1999. At the time, the Dallas Mavericks were in Seattle to open the 50-game lockout-shortened
It also was the first NBA game for Dirk Nowitzki, the seven-foot forward from Germany who was the ninth pick of the 1998 draft and was poised to help pull this franchise from the depth of a disastrous decade of basketball. But it was a night that weighed heavily on Nowitzki, who finished his inaugural NBA game with just two points and no rebounds, and was 0-of-5 from the field in 16 minutes during a contest the Mavs lost to Seattle, 92-86, in overtime.