Boston — Jayson Tatum put his hands behind his head and TD Garden fans took it all in, standing up and cheering him on.
As he walked to the bench, he put his arms around Celtics coach Joe Mazula.
Your journey is complete.
The Boston Celtics have again taken a commanding position among NBA champions.
Tatum had 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds, and the Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 on Monday night to earn the franchise’s 18th win and break a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in league history.
Boston won its latest title on the 16th anniversary of last hoisting the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2008. This marks the 13th championship won this century by one of Boston’s Big Four professional sports franchises.
“It means the world,” Tatum said on stage after the team received the trophy from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “A long time. And damn thank you so much.”
Jaylen Brown was named NBA Finals MVP after adding 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
“I share this with my brothers and my partner in crime, Jayson Tatum,” Brown said after the 107th career playoff game he and Tatum have played together. This was the most matches by any duo before winning the title.
Jrue Holiday finished the game with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Center Kristaps Porzingis also provided an emotional boost, scoring five points in 17 minutes in his return from a two-game absence due to a dislocated tendon in his left ankle.
They helped the Celtics finish the postseason with a 16-3 record and an 80-21 overall record. The .792 winning percentage ranks second in team history behind the Celtics’ 1985-86 championship team, which went 82-18 (.820).
In his second season, Mazzulla became, at age 35, the youngest coach to lead a team to a championship since Bill Russell in 1969.
“There are very few opportunities for greatness in life,” Mazzulla said.
Luka Doncic finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas, which failed to extend the series after avoiding a sweep with a 38-point win in Game 4. The Mavericks are 3-0 in Game 5 of this postseason, with Doncic at least scoring. Each is 31 points. He said the chest, right knee and left ankle injuries suffered in the final were no excuse for Dallas’ struggles throughout the series.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m hurt or how hurt I am. “I was there,” he said. “I tried to act, but I didn’t do enough.”
Kyrie Irving finished with just 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting and has lost 13 of his last 14 games against a Celtics team he left in the summer of 2019 to join the Brooklyn Nets.
Irving thinks better things are ahead for the Mavs.
“I see an opportunity to build the future in a positive way. “This is almost the norm and we are competing for a championship,” he said.
NBA teams are now 0-157 in postseason series after losing 3-0.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd believes Doncic and his team will grow from this NBA Finals experience.
“I think the first step is to get into it. “I think that’s a big deal,” he said. “Yes, we lost 4-1, but I thought that group fought against the Celtics, and unfortunately we weren’t able to make shots when we should have or turned the ball over, so they made the most of it.”
Boston never trailed and led by as many as 26, soaking up the energy of the Garden crowd.
Dallas was within 16-15 early on before the Celtics closed the first quarter on a 12-3 run, including a combined eight points from Tatum and Brown.
The Celtics did it again in the second quarter as the Mavericks cut a 15-point deficit to 9 points. Boston capped the season with a 19-7 spurt capped off by Payton Pritchard’s half-court buzzer-beater (his second of the series) to give Boston a 67-46 halftime lead.
In the final two minutes of the first and second quarters, the Celtics outscored the Mavericks 22-4.
The Celtics never looked back.
Russell’s widow, Jeannine Russell, and his daughter, Karen Russell, were in attendance at TD Garden to pay tribute to the latest generation of Celtics champions.
They watched current Celtics stars Tatum and Brown earn their first rings. Thanks to the trade that sent 2008 champion Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn in 2013, Boston gained draft picks and eventually selected Brown and Tatum third overall in back-to-back drafts in 2016 and 2017. .
The All-Star came into his own this season, hitting a ton of 3-pointers and leading a Celtics team built around a defense that was rated among the best in the league during the regular season.
The duo has reached at least the Eastern Conference Finals as teammates four times previously.
They finally reached the finish line in their fifth deep playoff game together.
After struggling offensively at times in the series, Tatum and Brown hit home in Game 5, combining for 31 points and 11 assists in the first half.
It helped embody all the traits that made Boston one of the NBA’s strongest teams this postseason: spreading the team out, sharing the ball, and creating havoc on defense. Derek Lively II even cracked a tooth like Derrick White did after landing.
“I’m going to lose all my teeth for the championship,” White said.
And the Celtics had a dizzying run of championships after failing to bounce back last season after losing to the Golden State Warriors in the 2022 Finals and a Game 7 home loss to the Miami Heat in the conference finals.
Tatum vowed that night to take the pain of that disappointment away.
Standing amid a sea of confetti Monday night, he was reminded of what he had accomplished by his 6-year-old son, Deuce.
“He said I was the best in the world,” Tatum said. “I said, ‘You’re right.’”
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