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The Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 on Monday night to win record 18th NBA titlewith one more than their old rivals Los Angeles Lakers.
“When you have little chances in life, you’ve got to take the bull by the horns and you’ve got to own it, and our guys owned it,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzula said at the trophy ceremony.
What many expected to be a tough series ended up being a relative romp that the Celtics ended up winning on their home court – they led by 21 points at halftime and were in the lead all night. The overall series, which the Celtics won 4-1, was never in serious doubt, even when the Mavericks won Game 4 with 38 points blast last friday. The same could be said for the Celtics’ entire playoff campaign, during which they lost just three games.
“We’ve been responding all year and this was no different,” Celtics forward Jayson Tatum said after the game when asked how the Game 4 blowout affected Monday night’s performance. “We owe it to our fans, it’s been a long journey. It’s been a long journey.”
Tatum, who was named to the All-NBA first team for the third time this season, was terrific on Monday night, scoring 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. The win came exactly 16 years after the Celtics last won NBA title, in 2008
Jaylen Brown, who had 21 points on the night, was named Finals MVP.
“It was a total team effort and I’m going to share that with my brothers and my partner in crime Jayson Tatum, he’s been with me the whole way,” Brown said before hugging Tatum.
The Mavericks never looked competitive Monday night. Luka Doncic finished with 28 points and 12 rebounds, but was sloppy on defense and committed seven turnovers. Dallas’ other star, Kyrie Irving, had another miserable night against his former team, finishing with just 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting. He’s now lost 13 of his 14 games against the Celtics, leaving 2019 under dire circumstances .
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The championship win ends a streak of near misses for the Celtics. As well as their defeat in The NBA Finals two years ago, they had lost in the conference finals in four of the last eight seasons.
“What will they say now?” Tatum said when asked about those critics who said this team can’t deliver on its promise. “What will they say now?”
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