The Boston Celtics easily took care of the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 in Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals on Monday night, securing the franchise's 18th championship and first since 2008.
The Mavericks had kept pace early in the game, but Boston went on a 9-0 run to close the first quarter, giving them a 10-point lead that grew to 21 at halftime. Dallas never got within single digits the entire second half.
The Celtics cruised through the regular season with the best record in the NBA and then did even better in the playoffs, never losing a series while winning 15 of their first 17 games. They opened a 3-0 lead in Dallas, but the Mavericks avoided elimination with a 122-84 victory Friday night, the third-biggest blowout in Finals history.
That sent the series back to Boston, where the Celtics closed it out. Boston's 18 NBA titles are the most of all time, with Monday night's win moving them one ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers, now second with 17 championships.
Elsa/Getty Images
Jayson Tatum had 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds and Jaylen Brown, who was named Finals MVP, added 21 points. Jrue Holiday finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Center Kristaps Porzingis also provided an emotional lift, returning from a two-game absence due to a sprained left ankle to score five points in 17 minutes.
He helped the Celtics cap a postseason that saw them go 16-3 and finish with an 80-21 overall record. That .792 winning percentage ranks second in team history behind only the Celtics' 1985-86 championship team that finished 82-18.
Second-year coach Joe Mazzulla, at 35, also became the youngest coach since Bill Russell in 1969 to lead a team to a championship.
Luka Doncic finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds for Dallas, which failed to extend the streak after avoiding a sweep with a 38-point win in Game 4. The Mavericks had been 3-0 in Game 5 this postseason, with Doncic scoring at least. 31 points in each of them.
Kyrie Irving finished with just 15 points on 5-for-16 shooting and has now lost 13 of his last 14 against the Celtics team he left in the summer of 2019 to join the Brooklyn Nets.
NBA teams are now 0-157 in postseason series after falling from a 3-0 deficit.
Boston never trailed and led by as many as 26, feeding off the energy of the Garden crowd.
The Mavericks cut what had been a 15-point deficit to nine in the second quarter, but Boston ended the period on a 19-7 run that was capped by a midcourt slam by Payton Pritchard, his second hit of this type in the series. — to give Boston a 67-46 halftime lead.
Adam Glanzman/Getty Images
Over 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 daughter Karen Russell were at TD Garden to greet the Celtics' new generation of champions.
They saw current Celtics stars Tatum and Brown win their first rings. It was the trade that sent 2008 champions Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn in 2013 that earned Boston the draft picks it eventually used to select Brown and Tatum third overall in back-to-back drafts in 2016 and 2017 .
The All-Star came into his own this season, leading a Celtics team that was built around taking and making a lot of three-pointers, and a defense that ranked as the best in the league during the regular season.
The duo reached at least the Eastern Conference Finals as teammates four times before.
Their fifth deep playoff run together proved to be the charm.
After struggling at times offensively in the series, Tatum and Brown hit a hot streak in Game 5, combining for 31 points and 11 assists in the first half.
It helped highlight all the attributes that made Boston the most formidable team in the NBA this postseason: spreading teams, sharing the ball and wreaking havoc on defense.
And it put a championship bow on a whirlwind two-year stretch for the Celtics that saw them lose in the Finals to the Golden State Warriors in 2022 and then not return last season after a Game 7 home loss against the Miami Heat in the conference finals. .
