The Boston Celtics defeated the visiting Dallas Mavericks 106-88 to win the 2023-24 National Basketball Association championship Monday.
Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 31 points, while teammate and fellow star Jaylen Brown, who was named the NBA Finals most valuable player, finished with 21 points.
Boston won the best-of-seven series by a margin of four games to one and posted an overall record during the playoffs of 16-3. The team dominated Monday’s game from the opening minute, leading by 21 points at halftime and showing they had overcome Saturday’s embarrassing 122-84 loss to Dallas in Game 4.
Luka Doncic led the Mavericks with 28 points and 12 rebounds, while teammate Kyrie Irving – a former teammate of Tatum and Brown – finished with 15 points.
The title is Boston’s record-setting 18th NBA championship, breaking a long-standing tie with the Los Angeles Lakers, and the team’s first since the 2007-08 season. Tatum and Brown, who were with the Celtics when the team lost the 2021-22 Finals to the Golden State Warriors, now join Celtics legends such as Bill Russell, Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce as NBA champions.
Some information for this report came from Reuters, Agence France-Presse.
