BOSTON (AP) — Jayson Tatum put his hands behind his head, the TD Garden fans stood around him, cheering, and he saw it all.
Walking towards the bench he said, wrapped both hands Around Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla.
The journey was over.
The Boston Celtics again stand alone among NBA champions.
Tatum said 31 points, 11 assists and eight reboundsAnd the Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 on Monday night to win the franchise’s 18th championship, tying the Los Angeles Lakers for the most championships in league history.
Boston earned its latest title on the 16th anniversary of winning its last Larry O'Brien Trophy in 2008. It is the 13th championship won this century by one of the city's Big 4 professional sports franchises.
“It means a lot,” Tatum said on stage after the team received the trophy from NBA commissioner Adam Silver. “It's been a long time coming. And I'm very grateful.”
Jaylen Brown added 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Was selected NBA Finals MVP.
“I share it with my brothers and my teammate Jayson Tatum,” Brown said after the 107th career playoff game he and Tatum played together — the most for any duo before winning a title.
Jrue Holiday finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Also providing an emotional boost was center Kristaps Porzingis, who returned from a two-game absence because of a torn tendon in his left ankle and scored five points in 17 minutes.
He helped the Celtics win the postseason, in which they went 16-3 and finished with an 80-21 overall record. His .792 winning percentage ranks second in team history, trailing only the Celtics' 1985-86 championship team, which finished 82-18 (.820).
In his second season, at age 35, Mazzulla became the youngest coach to lead a team to a championship since Bill Russell in 1969.
“There are very few opportunities in life to be great,” Mazzulla said.
Luka Doncic had 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 were 3-0 in Game 5s this postseason, with Doncic scoring at least 31 points in each of them. Dallas struggled throughout the series because of injuries he suffered during the Finals to his chest, right knee and left ankle, he said.
“It doesn't matter if I got hurt or not, how hurt I was. I was there,” he said. “I tried to play, but I couldn't do enough.”
Kyrie Irving scored just 15 points on 5 of 16 shots and has lost 13 of his last 14 contests against the Celtics team he left in the summer of 2019 to join the Brooklyn Nets.
Irving believes better things are ahead for the Mavs.
Boston Celtics head coach J. Joe Mazzulla (center right) raises the trophy next to owner Stephen Pagliuca (center left) after defeating the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Basketball Finals in Boston on Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
“I see an opportunity for us to build our future in a really positive way, where this is almost a regular thing for us and we're competing for championships,” he said.
NBA teams are now 0-157 after trailing 3-0 in a postseason series.
Mavs coach Jason Kidd believes Doncic and his team will grow from this NBA Finals experience.
“I think the first step is just to get involved. I think that's a big deal,” he said. “Yeah, we lost 4-1, but I think the group fought hard against the Celtics and unfortunately, we didn't make shots when we had to, or we turned the ball over and they took advantage of it.”
Boston never trailed and took advantage of the energy of the Garden crowd to lead by as many as 26 points.
Dallas started off trailing 16–15, but the Celtics took a 12–3 lead in the first quarter, including a combined eight points from Tatum and Brown.
The Celtics did it again in the second quarter when the Mavericks cut a 15-point deficit to nine points. Boston finished the period with a 19–7 lead, which ended by half-court. buzzer beater This shot by Payton Pritchard – his second of the series – gave Boston a 67–46 lead at halftime.
The Celtics outscored the Mavericks 22–4 over the final two minutes of the first and second quarters.
The Celtics never looked back.
Russell's widow, Jeannine Russell, and their daughter, Karen Russell, were at TD Garden to salute the latest generation of Celtics champions.
He watched current Celtics stars Tatum and Brown earn their first rings. It was the trade that sent 2008 champions Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to Brooklyn in 2013 that netted Boston the draft picks it eventually used to select Brown and Tatum third in back-to-back drafts in 2016 and 2017.
The All-Stars showcased their ability this season to lead a Celtics team that was built to take and make 3-pointers, and their defense was considered one of the league's best during the regular season.
The pair have previously reached at least the Eastern Conference finals as teammates four times.
They finally reached the finish line in their fifth deep playoff run.
After struggling offensively at times in the series, Tatum and Brown got off to a good start in Game 5, combining for 31 points and 11 assists in the first half.
Confetti falls after the Boston Celtics defeat the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Basketball Finals in Boston on Monday, June 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)
It helped bring out all the characteristics that made Boston one of the NBA's strongest teams this postseason — spreading teams out, sharing the ball and wreaking havoc on defense. And even Tooth breakageAs did Derrick White when he was attacked by Derek Lively II.
“I would lose all my teeth for the championship,” White said.
And it made the Celtics' path to a championship difficult, leading them to lose to the Golden State Warriors in the Finals in 2022 and then fail to bounce back last season after losing a Game 7 home game to the Miami Heat in the conference finals.
That night, Tatum vowed to erase the sting of those disappointments.
Standing in a sea of confetti Monday night, he was reminded by his 6-year-old son, Deuce, of what he's accomplished.
“He told me I'm the best in the world,” Tatum said. “I said, 'You're absolutely right I am the best.'”
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