The Boston Celtics carved out a unique spot in league history at home in TD Garden on Monday night.
Boston walloped the Dallas Mavericks 106-88, to claim a record 18th NBA championship, breaking their tie with the 17-win Los Angeles Lakers, Boston's mortal playoff enemy. It took the Celtics just five games to put the Mavs to bed. The team won by an average margin of 12.5 points per in this series.
The Mavericks, meanwhile, seemingly used up all their fight in a fluky 38-point Game 4 blowout (their lone victory of the NBA Finals), putting forth a miserable performance in a must-win bout.
The Celtics went on a jump-shooting barrage, while also leaning on All-Stars Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum to get downhill and penetrate for easy looks at the rim and/or tactical dishes to open shooters. The Celtics finished shooting 13-of-39 from long range and enjoyed a massive 58-45 edge in rebounding and a significant 25-18 advantage in assists.
Following a back-and-forth exchange of buckets in the game's opening minutes, Boston closed out the contest's first frame on a 9-0 run, galloping to a 28-18 double-digit lead. They never looked back after that.
Boston made practically everything in an epic second quarter, outscoring Dallas 39-28 — capped off by a stunning Payton Pritchard buzzer-beater from near halfcourt.
The Celtics led Dallas by 21 points, 67-46, at the break.
Ex-Dallas center Kristaps Porzingis was back in the lineup for Boston, playing almost a ceremonial Willis Reed role, although he was still able to alter shots and protect the rim thanks to his 7-foot-2 frame. He submitted a gritty performance in 16:05 of action off the bench, scoring five points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field and 1-of-2 shooting from the foul line. He also had one rebound and notched a +18 plus-minus. Porzingis sat out Games 3 and 4 with a left leg posterior tibialis dislocation suffered late into Game 2.
Al Horford, who had been the team's token starter even at the beginning of the Finals while Porzingis recovered from another injury, has played capably in his stead. While the Celtics' five-out offense barely missed a beat, the team did suffer a bit defensively without Porzingis.
The Celtics led by double digits for the entirety of the bout's second half.
Deep in his bag all night, Tatum submitted his best offensive game of the Finals, propelling his Celtics to glory with a masterful near-triple double of 31 points on 11-of-24 shooting from the floor and 8-of-8 shooting from the free throw line to go along with 11 assists and eight rebounds. Tatum made a point to drive on Monday, exploiting multiple mismatches at every opportunity. Brown, too, was aggressive in looking for his shot. He made 21 points on an erratic 7-of-23 shooting line from the field and 5-of-6 shooting from the charity stripe, plus eight rebounds, six dimes, and two steals.
All-Defensive guard Derrick White scored 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting, with eight of those shots (and all of his makes) being launched from long range. White's All-Defensive backcourt mate Jrue Holiday, winning his second title after claiming the 2021 championship with the Milwaukee Bucks, was Boston's only other double digit scorer, nabbing 15 points on 7-of-14 shooting from the field, 11 rebounds, four assists, and a steal.
Among the Celtics' top six, Tatum, Brown, Horford and White were party to this core group's other run to the NBA Finals, a 2022 loss to the Golden State Warriors. The additions of Holiday and Porzingis via a pair of offseason trades from team president Brad Stevens helped expand Boston's two-way versatility and ultimately make them into a club so formidable they look like they'll be the class of the Eastern Conference for years to come.
Outside of All-Star Luka Doncic and sharpshooting reserve guard Josh Green, Dallas couldn't buy a bucket for much of the night. Whatever pace-and-space offensive rhythm the Mavericks seemed to find in the second half of Game 3 and the entirety of Game 4 utterly abandoned them Monday. Doncic had 28 points on 12-of-25 shooting, but struggled from deep, as has been his custom throughout the series, going 2-of-9 from beyond the arc. He also notched 12 boards and five dimes. Green shot 4-of-6 from long range and finished with 14 points, the team's only double digit bench scorer for the night.
Ex-Celtic Kyrie Irving forced up a barrage of off-balance brinks, wrapping up what's been a shockingly inconsistent series for the eight-time All-Star. Irving finished with 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the floor and nine assists in his 41:07 on the floor.
The Mavericks' rim-rolling centers, who feasted on Horford with their speed and verticality for much of Game 4, were barely utilized in Game 5. Starter Daniel Gafford and hyper-athletic rookie Dereck Lively II combined for a meager 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the floor, seven rebounds, and one block (from Lively).
Boston enjoyed a uniquely dominant playoff run, finishing 16-3 in the postseason en route to capturing the title this year. All told, the Celtics finished 80-21 in the regular season and playoffs combined in 2023-24. The team's combination of a three-point heavy shooting diet on offense and a switchy, lengthy campaign to cover every inch of the floor defensively with talent specially attuned to various areas (White and Holiday on the perimeter, Tatum and Brown around the midrange out to the three point line, and Porzingis inside) helped maximize the greatness of its two stars.
Fresh off signing a record-setting $303.7 million contract extension last summer, Brown was named the Bill Russell Finals MVP for his efforts in this series. Brown also claimed the Eastern Conference Finals MVP award this year. Tatum's inconsistent field goal shooting ultimately doomed him, even though he is generally considered to be the better overall player.
About the writer
Newsweek contributing writer Alex Kirschenbaum is a hoops fanatic who has managed to parlay his passion into a writing career. ... Read more
