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5 months ago
24
There was never a doubt in Beantown on Monday night. A Boston Celtics victory looked inevitable in Game 5 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks at TD Garden. And that's what happened, ending a 16-year championship drought.
The Celtics defeated the Mavericks 106-88 to win the NBA Finals in five games.
Boston won its 18th championship in franchise history, one better than the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in the NBA. It was 16 years to the day of when it won its last championship over the Lakers in 2008.
The Celtics victory snaps the second-longest streak without a championship in franchise history, which was 22 years between 1986 and its now-second-most-recent title in 2008.
Monday's loss for the Mavericks ends a disappointing end to their season, where their two biggest stars, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, did not play up to their potential for most of the championship series.
Jayson Tatum lifts the Larry O'Brien Trophy after winning his first NBA Championship
Jayson Tatum cemented himself as one of the premier players in the NBA by winning a title
Tatum was in tears after winning his first NBA Championship over the Mavericks on Monday
The confetti started to fall at TD Garden to mark the Boston Celtics first title since 2008
This is a first championship for Boston's young core of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, while also rewarding veterans such as Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday.
'Congrats to the new champs, the Boston @Celtics ! 18 titles is no easy feat – well deserved.,' former President Barack Obama said on X.
Brown was named Finals MVP minutes after the victory over Tatum.
Tatum finished with a game-high 31 points, with Brown adding 21. Doncic was Dallas' leading scorer with 28 points.
A Payton Pritchard swish from beyond half court to beat the halftime buzzer seemingly called 'series' on the Mavericks, putting the Celtics up 21 with two quarters left in the game.
Boston held a double-digit lead for most of the game and had its lead hover around 20 points for the entire second half.
Brown and Tatum are 27 and 26 respectively, giving Celtics fans hope that they will not have to wait more than a dozen years to raise banner No 19.
The town of Boston continues to be the most dominant sports city of the 21st century.
This Celtics championship is Beantown's 13th since 2000, with the Bruins now the only big-four sports team not to have won multiple championships in the new millennium.
The New England Patriots have won six, all with Tom Brady leading the team on the field, with the once-cursed Boston Red Sox winning four titles since the beginning the streak-busting season of 2004.
'Another one in Boston,' Brady posted on X with a clover-leaf emoji.
Al Horford entered the NBA in 2007 and finally won his first championship with the Celtics
During the final seconds of the game, the Celtics bench started celebrating a title victory
Kyrie Irving congratulated his Celtics foes once the result was in hand before exiting the court
A Celtics fans holds a picture of Tatum, Doncic, and Irving that helps describe the series
The Celtics won a playoff series in five of the previous six seasons, giving a once-inexperienced roster plenty of playoff bumps and bruises.
The final game of the NBA season did not come without some turbulence. Celtics guard Derrick White chipped a tooth after a brutal collision with Dallas' Dereck Lively during the second quarter.
White dove for a loose ball and nearly suffered a gruesome injury. As White went head-first to retrieve the rock, Lively planted his weight onto him after losing the race to the ball.
Lively's forearm ended up on the back of White's head, slamming his face onto the hardwood.
Game 5 also marked the end of Irving's championship return to Boston, where he scored 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting.
Celtics fans have shown their disdain for their former star and now-Maverick during all three games held at TD Garden.
'Tribe, stay together no matter what. Through the ups and downs, wins and losses, success and failure. Keep your head up high. This mission is bigger than us. I love you all!' Irving posted on X.
English (US)