Boston Celtics defeated Dallas Mavericks 106-88 at TD Garden Arena on Monday to claim the 2024 NBA title in five games where they emerged triumphant in four of them.
The Celtics lifted their 18th championship, equalling the Los Angeles Lakers record for the most in league history. Their first since 2008, when they beat the Lakers in six games.
Jayson Tatum was the player to lead Celtics to glory with 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. Meanwhile, Jaylen Brown, who was named NBA Finals MVP, contributed 21 points and eight rebounds.
"We knew we needed each other," Tatum said of his teammates after the win. "It's a team sport, and we went through the ups and downs. We deserved this. We earned this."
For the Mavericks, Luca Doncic did his best and scored 28 points and 12 rebounds but his efforts went in vain as they couldn’t beat the in-form Celtics.
“It doesn’t matter if I was hurt, how much was I hurt. I was out there,” Doncic said. “I tried to play, but I didn’t do enough.”
The Celtics finished the season with an overall 80-21 (.792 win percentage) record, which is the second-best record in the championship history. Only behind their own 1985-86 championship run where they finished 82-18 (.820 win percentage).
Joe Muzella, the Celtics’ coach, became the youngest coach to lead his team to the championship since Bill Russell in 1969.
Meanwhile, the Mavericks coach, Jason Kidd stated that Doncic and his side will grow from this NBA Finals experience as playing the final is a big thing.
“I think the first step is just to be in it. I think that’s a big thing,” he said. “Yes, we lost 4-1, but I thought the group fought against the Celtics and just, unfortunately, we just couldn’t make shots when we had to, or we turned the ball over and they took full advantage of that.”
