In front of a sold-out TD Garden, the Boston Celtics won their 18th NBA title last night with a 106-88 win over the Dallas Mavericks. It only took Boston five games to dispose of a Mavericks team that was clearly outmatched. The Celtics defense was their best weapon in a game that only saw one Maverick score more than 15 points. Boston’s gameplan for game five was similar to their plan for the series, let Luka get what he is going to get and attack the rest of the team with ferocious defense. The Celtics were able to basically eliminate Kyrie Irving from the game last night and essentially the series. Aside from his 35-point performance in game three, Irving underperformed to his standards in these finals.
This is the first title since the Celtics and their big-three with Garnett, Rondo & Paul won it all back in 2008. Many believed that for Boston to win another title with the current group, either Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum would have to be traded. The consensus outside the locker room was they could not win one together, one side believing Brown was a dead-weight being dragged along by Tatum, the other side believing Tatum was overpaid and underdelivering. The two combined for 52 points (nearly half the team total), 17 assists & 16 rebounds last night. I think that should be enough to silence the critics.
Even more discourse took place around Jaylen Brown’s abilities as an NBA player going into the 2024 season. Brown had issues in past years dribbling with his left hand, something that seems like second nature for an NBA player. He also drew questions for his poor performance from the free throw line, only averaging 70% in his trips to the line this year. How did Brown answer? He was nearly 85% from the line in games 2 through 5. Not only did he improve his free throw shooting as the series progressed, but his shooting in general was also a big contributor to the championship shooting over 50% from the floor in 3 of 5 games. Brown was so good for the Celtics; he was named the NBA Finals MVP.
One of the best storylines out of the Celtics championship belongs to NBA veteran, Al Horford. After 17 seasons in the league, and many disappointing playoff exits, Horford finally has the ring he so well deserves. Horford spent nine years in Atlanta, losing to the future NBA Champion Boston Celtics in the playoffs during his rookie season. In between his six years with the Celtics, he played one season with Philadelphia and Oklahoma City, but his most memorable year will be this one for sure.
This championship is the 18th for the Celtics, which puts them one ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers for most all time.
As for the Mavericks, what an incredible journey this team went on to get to the NBA Finals. They finished 5th in the West with a 50-32 record, but they were 21-9 after the trade deadline which propelled them into the playoffs. They surprised us all by reaching the finals for the first time since 2011, and they aren’t going anywhere. 6 of the top 7 scorers for the Mavericks are locked in through the 2026 season, and I fully expect Luka Doncic to take this offseason to physically prepare himself for another finals run next season. He looked like he ran out of gas when he got to the finals, and with the Mavericks expectations becoming ‘championship or bust’, Luka will need to prepare himself accordingly.
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