Jayson Tatum stood with his hands behind his head, soaking in the cheers from TD Garden fans.
As he walked to the bench, he embraced Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, knowing their journey was complete.
The Boston Celtics now reign supreme among NBA champions. Tatum’s 31 points, 11 assists, and eight rebounds powered the Celtics to a 106-88 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night. This win secured the franchise’s 18th championship, breaking their tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in league history.
Boston clinched this title, marking the 16th anniversary of their last championship in 2008. This marks the 13th championship won by one of the city’s Big 4 professional sports franchises this century.
“It means the world,” Tatum said on stage after receiving the trophy from NBA Commissioner Adam Silver. “It’s been a long time. And damn I’m grateful.”
Jaylen Brown contributed 21 points, eight rebounds, and six assists, earning the NBA Finals MVP award.
“I share this with my brothers and my partner in crime, Jayson Tatum,” Brown said after their 107th career playoff game together — the most for any duo before winning a title.
Jrue Holiday added 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Kristaps Porzingis, returning from a two-game absence, chipped in five points in 17 minutes.
As a result, these efforts helped the Celtics finish their postseason with a 16-3 record and an 80-21 overall record. Impressively, this .792 winning percentage is second only to the Celtics’ 1985-86 championship team.
At 35, Coach Mazzulla became the youngest coach since Bill Russell in 1969 to lead a team to a championship.
“You have very few chances in life to be great,” Mazzulla remarked.
Luka Doncic led Dallas with 28 points and 12 rebounds. Despite avoiding a sweep with a 38-point win in Game 4, the Mavericks couldn’t extend the series. Doncic downplayed his injuries, emphasizing that they weren’t an excuse for Dallas’s struggles.
“It doesn’t matter if I was hurt. I was out there,” Doncic said. “I tried to play, but I didn’t do enough.”
Kyrie Irving, who finished with 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting, has now lost 13 of his last 14 games against the Celtics.
Irving remains optimistic about the Mavericks’ future.
“I see an opportunity for us to build our future positively, where competing for championships becomes a regular thing,” he said.
NBA teams are now 0-157 in postseason series after falling into a 3-0 deficit. Mavericks coach Jason Kidd believes this experience will help his team grow.
“I think the first step is just to be in it. That’s a big thing,” Kidd said. “Yes, we lost 4-1, but we fought against the Celtics. Unfortunately, we couldn’t make shots when we had to.”
Boston never trailed in Game 5, leading by as many as 26 points.
Feeding off the energy of the Garden crowd, the Celtics closed the first quarter on a 12-3 run and ended the second quarter with a 19-7 spurt, capped by a half-court buzzer-beater by Payton Pritchard, giving Boston a 67-46 halftime lead.
The Celtics never looked back. Among the cheering crowd were Russell’s widow, Jeannine Russell, and his daughter, Karen Russell, saluting the newest generation of Celtics champions.
Tatum and Brown, products of the 2013 trade that sent Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn, have grown into All-Stars.
They led a Celtics team built on a high volume of 3-pointers and strong defense.
This season, the duo reached the Eastern Conference finals for the fifth time and ultimately won the championship. During Game 5, Tatum and Brown combined for 31 points and 11 assists in the first half, thereby showcasing Boston’s formidable team play.
The Celtics’ win concluded a challenging stretch, which included a finals loss to the Golden State Warriors in 2022 and a Game 7 home loss to the Miami Heat in the conference finals last season. In response, Tatum vowed to overcome these setbacks.
Standing in a sea of confetti, Tatum’s 6-year-old son, Deuce, reminded him of his accomplishment.
“He told me that I was the best in the world,” Tatum said. “I said, ‘You’re damn right I am.’”