BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – With a Game 5 win on Monday night the Celtics sealed the NBA title, but Boston had actually been waiting for this moment for over a decade. Just over five years after the Celtics claimed their 17th championship, Boston went into a complete rebuild on June 28, 2013, trading franchise centerpieces Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets in exchange for a package that included role players and draft picks.

What followed was a stretch of nearly 11 years that featured ups and downs, plenty of change and a constant belief that Banner 18 was always just one season away.

Two of the draft picks in the Brooklyn deal ended up turning into Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, drafted third overall in 2016 and 2017, respectively. The Celtics decided to build around the duo, and it ended up being the right choice.

But before the arrival of Brown and Tatum, Boston went through the 25-57 2013-14 campaign that featured Jeff Green as the frontman. Then a 5-foot-9 Isaiah Thomas came to town and started to establish himself as “The Little Guy,” in the words of the late Tommy Heinsohn.

Those teams may not have realized it at the time, but they were laying the foundation for something special.

Once Brown’s rookie season rolled around, the Celtics were really starting to look like contenders. Thomas averaged 28.9 points per game during the 2016-17 season, leading Boston to its first Eastern Conference finals appearance since 2012.

The Celtics came up short but proceeded to load up the following offseason, trading for Kyrie Irving and signing Gordon Hayward. Even though Hayward fractured his left tibia just minutes into his Boston debut, the Celtics ended up returning to the East finals, where they fell to the Cleveland Cavaliers in seven games.

From there, Boston overcame a fallout with Irving and an underwhelming two seasons with Kemba Walker running the point to punch its ticket to the Finals in 2022. Heartbreak was again in the cards, though, as the Golden State Warriors raised the coveted Larry O’Brien Trophy after beating the Celtics in six games.

After getting bounced in the Eastern Conference finals once more a year ago, Boston went all in.

The Celtics parted ways with fan favorite Marcus Smart, considered by many to be the heart and soul of the team, to acquire Kristaps Porzingis via trade, and they also made a deal with the Portland Trail Blazers to bring in point guard Jrue Holiday.

Those moves paid off, and now a league-record 18th banner will be raised this fall.

While this year’s team was the one that broke a 16-year title drought, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla is forever thankful for Green, Thomas, Smart and every other player that checked in for Boston over the past 11 seasons.

“I think the most important thing, something that’s really been going through my mind throughout this process, is you can’t lose sight of the people that came before us,” Mazzulla said. “And I want to make sure every person that’s worked for the Celtics, that’s played for the Celtics that didn’t win, knows that their work and what they have done has not gone unnoticed

“It can be so easy when you work for this organization and you don’t win that the work that people put in just gets brushed over or gets ignored. … So I think that’s one of the first things that came to mind, was just because we won this doesn’t mean what the people have done before us isn’t just as important.”

Through everything over the past seven years, Brown and Tatum have been the one constant.

“We’ve been through a lot, the losses, the expectations,” Brown said. “The media have said all different types of things: We can’t play together, we are never going to win.

“We heard it all. But we just blocked it out, and we just kept going. I trusted him. He trusted me. And we did it together.”

Brown was named Finals MVP. He averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists in the series, and Tatum quickly shot down any notions of him being jealous of his co-star.

“Extremely happy for him. This is a hell of an accomplishment,” Tatum said. “The main goal for us was to win a championship. We weren’t — we didn’t care who got Finals MVP.”

The Celtics traveled to Miami on Tuesday to celebrate for a bit before returning to Boston for their championship parade on Friday morning. And if all goes to plan, Celtics fans should get used to lining the streets and watching the city’s duck boats roll by.

“I think we definitely have a window,” Brown said. “We take it one day at a time. We definitely have to make sure we stay healthy. But, you know, we’ll enjoy the summer, enjoy the moment, and then we get right back to it next year.”

– Field Level Media

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BOSTON – (Staff and wire Service Report) – Forward Jayson Tatum dominated with 31 points and 11 assists as the Boston Celtics locked up their league-record 18th championship with a 106-88 blowout of the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night in Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals.

Tatum also had eight rebounds while teammate Jaylen Brown added 21 points, eight boards and six assists for Boston, which celebrated the 16th anniversary of its previous title by completing a 16-3 playoff run. The Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2008 Finals, and those two teams shared the league record with 17 championships apiece before Monday.

Jrue Holiday had 15 points and 11 rebounds and Derrick White chipped in 14 points as Boston wrapped up the best-of-seven series on its home court.

Luka Doncic paced the Mavericks with 28 points and 12 boards, but he committed seven turnovers. Kyrie Irving finished with 15 points and nine assists for Dallas, and Josh Green netted 14 points.

After Dallas called a timeout with 3:11 left in the second quarter, trailing by 11 points, Boston completely broke the game open.

The Celtics scored 17 of the next 24 points, six of which came from Brown. Boston reserve guard Payton Pritchard capped the outburst in jaw-dropping fashion, canning a 49-foot heave from beyond half-court at the buzzer to send Boston into the break with a 67-46 lead.

Holiday’s layup pushed the Celtics’ lead to 78-52 with 9:10 to go in the third quarter. Green then converted a putback and knocked down a 3-pointer as part of a 10-2 run that got the Mavericks within 80-62.

Dallas later got the deficit down to 17, but Boston took an 86-67 lead into the fourth.

The Celtics were on top by at least 18 the rest of the way.

A three-point play from Tatum put the Celtics up 46-31 with 7:08 remaining in the first half, but Dallas then took over down low. The Mavericks scored all of their points in the paint during an 8-2 spurt to get within nine before Al Horford stemmed the tide with a hard-nosed layup.

Horford’s bucket came just before the Mavericks’ timeout that preceded Boston’s game-changing run.

Boston came to life in the final 1:39 of the first quarter, ripping off nine unanswered points to take a 28-18 lead into the second.

The Celtics wound up shooting 42.7 percent from the floor. Dallas shot 44.9 percent overall but was outscored by 10 points at the foul line and committed 13 turnovers to Boston’ nine.

– Field Level Media

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Celtics’ Defense Closes Out Dallas, 106-88, to Earn Title

BOSTON – (Staff Report) – As NBA Commissioner Adam Silver performed his most important job function of the year 2024, he was able to say something to the Boston Celtics’ team, its management and fans that has never been stated to any team in the history of the League.

Said Silver as he presented the iconic gold Larry O’Brien Trophy, “this is for the Celtics’ NBA record 18th championship.”

No other NBA franchise can say that!

Banner 18.

The Celtics closed-out the 2024 NBA Finals with a 106-88 defensive masterpiece to take the Finals in five games. Surprisingly, the game and the title were decided in the very first quarter as Boston held Dallas’ five-time All-NBA forward Luka Doncic to five points while shutting down Mavericks All-Star point guard, Kyrie Irving,  to zero points and one assist as Boston established a 28-18 lead. A lead they’d never relinquish.

Boston countered with a balanced first quarter score sheet with guard Jrue Holiday and forward Jaylen Brown leading the Celtics with six points, each, while guard Derrick White added five points, NBA All-Star Jayson Tatum had four points, three rebounds and four assists and veteran center Al Horford added three points with his patented and reliable long distance shooting.

The balanced scoring set the tone, and Boston’s team defense held Doncic to single figures (nine points) in the first half. He finished with 28 points on 12-for-25 shooting, including a low 2-for-9 from long distance. Irving finished with 15 points on 5-of-16 shooting with 3-of-9 from three-point land.

Boston increased its lead to 26 points (61-35) at the half and coasted to victory as Dallas shots fell short and both teams’ energy level dropped from utter exhaustion.  Throughout the game, there were no lead changes and no ties.

Brown finished Game 5 with a solid 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists, but struggled from the field, shooting 7-of-23.

Oft-injured center Kristaps Porzingis was able to give his team effort of 16 minutes of playing time, contributing five points and rebound, much to the delight of the 19,158 sold out TD Garden crowd.

Developing Story …

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – If any player knows how badly the Boston Celtics want to close out the Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday night, it’s Dallas guard Kyrie Irving.

Irving spent two seasons with Boston (2017-19), but he’s been a villain in the eyes of Celtics fans since leaving to sign with the Brooklyn Nets in the summer of 2019. Chants ragging on Irving frequently echoed throughout TD Garden in Games 1 and 2 — a pair of Mavericks losses — before Boston hit the road and came out of Dallas with a 3-1 lead in the series.

And with the Celtics now knocking on the door of the 18th title in franchise history, Irving has seemingly found peace with his place in Boston history as he prepares to return to a hostile environment.

“Now being older with hindsight looking back, I definitely would have taken time to know the people in the community and talked to some of the champions that have come before me,” Irving told reporters on Sunday. “They have championship pedigree here. … They expect you to seamlessly buy into the Celtics’ pride, buy into everything Celtics.

“And if you don’t, then you’ll be outed. I’m one of the people that’s on the outs. I’m perfectly fine with that, you know what I mean. I did it to myself.”

But the Celtics greats of years past are the last thing on Boston coach Joe Mazzulla’s mind.

Mazzulla was asked how special it would be to join coaches such as Red Auerbach, Bill Russell and K.C. Jones as those to lead a Celtics team to a championship. Without hesitation, he immediately shifted the focus to Game 5.

“That will never happen if you don’t run back on defense, rebound, execute and get to your spacing,” Mazzulla said. “That’s the most important thing.”

Boston lacked those fundamentals on Friday, failing to put the Mavericks away while ending up on the wrong end of a 122-84 blowout in Game 4.

Jayson Tatum finished with a team-high 15 points for the Celtics, and he’s hoping that Boston rediscovers the brand of basketball that has led it to 79 wins in 100 games between the regular season and playoffs here in 2023-24.

“I think we maybe put too much pressure on ourselves at that moment to be perfect or think it was going to go how we wanted it to go,” Tatum said of why the Celtics came up short on Friday. “Joe did a great job (Sunday) of reminding us that it’s OK to smile during wars. It’s OK to have fun during high-pressure moments. That’s what makes our team unique and special.”

Luka Doncic went for 29 points and Irving supplied 21 on Friday to keep Dallas’ season alive. The Mavericks are trying to become the first team in NBA history to overcome a 3-0 deficit in a best-of-seven series.

Teams are 0-156 when losing the first three games of a series.

“I think the most important thing is to show that we believe,” Doncic said. “I think we showed in Game 4. If not, if we wouldn’t believe, we probably wouldn’t have won that game. So I think obviously the talk is easy to talk about it, but then showing it is another thing.”

The stars could be aligning for Boston, though, as Monday marks the 16-year anniversary of the Celtics’ 2008 title. Boston hasn’t gone all the way since.

– Field Level Media

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DALLAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Luka Doncic wasn’t going to let the Dallas Mavericks go down quietly. With Dallas facing a 3-0 deficit in the NBA Finals, Doncic rose to the occasion and led the Mavericks to a 122-84 shellacking of the Boston Celtics on Friday night in Game 4 on his home court.

Doncic went for 29 points, five assists, five rebounds and three steals, a performance that virtually erased a fourth-quarter collapse in Game 3 that subjected the Dallas star to scrutiny from media across the country.

In that game, the Mavericks trailed by 21 following a Derrick White 3-pointer with 11:07 left in the game before mounting a feverish rally that got them within 93-90 with 6:11 to go. But with 4:12 remaining, Doncic stepped in front of Jaylen Brown to try and draw a charge and was called for a blocking foul — his sixth personal.

Dallas challenged the call, which stood, sending Doncic to the bench for the remainder of the contest. Doncic committed four of his fouls in the final quarter.

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DALLAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Jayson Tatum poured in 31 points and Jaylen Brown supplied 30 as the Celtics held off a late rally by the Dallas Mavericks for a 106-99 victory on Wednesday night in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

By taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the series, Boston pulled within one victory of its 18th title in franchise history. The Celtics will have a chance to complete the sweep on Friday when they face the Mavericks in Dallas for Game 4.

Tatum bounced back on Wednesday after combining for just 34 points in Games 1 and 2. Brown added eight rebounds and eight assists for Boston, which also got 16 points from Derrick White. Big man Kristaps Porzingis (lower leg) didn’t play after getting injured in the third quarter of Game 2.

Like Tatum, Kyrie Irving made up for a lackluster showing in each of the first two games of the series, and he paced the Mavericks with a game-high 35 points. Luka Doncic went for 27 points, six boards and six assists, but he dealt a critical blow to Dallas’ comeback hopes by fouling out with 4:12 left in the game.

The Mavericks challenged the foul on Doncic, but the call stood, forcing him from the game.

It looked like the game was over when White drilled a 3-pointer with 11:07 left in the fourth quarter to put the Celtics up 91-70.

But Dallas then took over, rattling off 28 of the next 37 points to get within 100-98 following a Dereck Lively II dunk with 1:20 to go.

Brown made sure Boston never let the Mavericks draw even, though, and his mid-range jumper at the top of the key made it a four-point game with 1:01 remaining. P.J. Washington and Irving both missed 3-point attempts down the stretch before two free throws from White and two more from Tatum put the finishing touches on the victory.

Doncic’s layup had the Mavericks within six, 71-65, with 5:11 left in the third quarter. The Celtics answered with a 7-0 spurt and later took an 85-70 lead into the fourth.

After Dallas led by as many as 13 in the opening 12 minutes, neither team led by more than four in the second quarter. The first half ended with the Mavericks clinging to a 51-50 edge behind 20 points from Irving.

Boston outshot Dallas 46.3 percent to 44.2 percent for the game.

– Field Level Media

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DALLAS – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis missed Game 3 of the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night due to a lower left leg injury. The team ruled Porzingis out about 90 minutes prior to tipoff.

“The medical team and the staff just decided that it wasn’t what was best for him (to play) today,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said during his pregame availability.

Porzingis had missed Boston’s 10 games leading up to the Finals due to a calf strain, but he returned for Games 1 and 2 against Dallas, helping the Celtics build a 2-0 series lead. However, at the 3:27 mark of the third quarter of Game 2 on Sunday, Porzingis sustained a dislocation of his left posterior tibialis tendon.

The new injury has no relation to the calf strain.

In the first two games of the Finals, Porzingis averaged 16.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks. He played 21 minutes in Game 1 and 23 in Game 2, coming off the bench both times.

Porzingis, 28, had averages of 20.1 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.9 blocks across 57 games (all starts) during the regular season. Boston acquired the big man in a trade with the Washington Wizards this past offseason.

Porzingis also played for the Mavericks from 2019-22.

–Field Level Media

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Dallas Mavericks Playing Those Mind Games

BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Prior to the Celtics’ 105-98 victory over the Mavericks in Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday, Dallas coach Jason Kidd seemingly tried to pit Boston stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown against each other.

Speaking to reporters Saturday, Kidd referred to Brown as the Celtics’ best player. Both Brown and Tatum were unfazed by the remark, but it later became evident that Boston coach Joe Mazzulla took it to heart.

“I’m really tired of hearing about one guy or this guy or that guy and everybody trying to make it out to be anything other than Celtic basketball,” Mazzulla said following Sunday’s win. “Everybody that stepped on that court today made winning plays on both ends of the floor, is the most important thing.”

Brown scored 21 points and Tatum finished with 18 to go along with 12 assists and nine rebounds in Game 2. However, it was Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Payton Pritchard that ended up stealing the spotlight.

Holiday supplied team highs in points with 26 and rebounds with 11, while White sealed the victory by ferociously blocking P.J. Washington’s dunk attempt with 50.5 seconds left in regulation to prevent Dallas from pulling within 103-100. Pritchard gave the Celtics a lift as the buzzer sounded in the third quarter, banking in a 34-foot 3-pointer to put Boston up by nine.

And those plays didn’t go unnoticed by the man who was anointed as the Celtics’ best player just one day earlier.

“We got a lot of weapons on our team, so we just got to trust what we’ve been doing all season long, trust our game plan,” Brown said. “I thought we had a bunch of great looks. If you go back and look in the first half, Sam (Hauser) had a bunch of great looks, D-White had some looks that didn’t go down.

“But we didn’t panic. We kept guarding, we stayed in the game and we kept trusting it and we made enough (Sunday) to win the game. But we expect to shoot the ball better going forward when we get on the road.”

The series now shifts to Dallas for Game 3 on Wednesday, but playing as the visitor has presented few challenges for Boston. The Celtics are 6-0 on the road during the playoffs, and they have won 22 of their past 27 games away from home dating back to the regular season.

“They haven’t lost a game since May something, right? Yeah, they’re hot,” Kidd said of the Celtics. “And not just on the road, but at home. We’ve got to protect home, and that’s it. We’ve got to find a way, continue, again, to build on our defense. Our defense put us in a position to win (Sunday). Unfortunately, our offense didn’t help us.”

Kidd is hoping guard Kyrie Irving can get back on track, as the former Celtic has scored just 28 points on 13-of-37 shooting (35.1 percent) through the first two games of the Finals.

Boston fans were jawing at Irving any time he touched the ball in Games 1 and 2, a reaction stemming from Irving’s decision to leave the Celtics for the Brooklyn Nets once free agency hit in June 2019.

“You have to accept the ups and downs of this. That’s, I would say, the toughest challenge when you’re in a series,” Irving said. “You want to play extremely well, especially when you’re playing in a Finals. … (Sunday’s loss) wasn’t all on me, but I’m definitely taking the majority of it because my teammates look to me to convert a lot of these shots and ease the burden of not just Luka (Doncic) but everyone else and settle our team.

“We definitely made our dinner on the defensive end, but now offensively I have to play better.”

Doncic posted a triple-double on Sunday, racking up 32 points, 11 boards and 11 assists. Washington had 17 points and Irving chipped in 16.

“At the end of the day, it’s basketball, away or home,” Doncic said. “We’ve just got to play better basketball to win.”

– Field Level Media

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Celtics Take 2-0 NBA Finals Lead; Series Switches to Dallas

By TERRY LYONS, Editor-in-Chief  of Digital Sports Desk

BOSTON – Unlike Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals when Boston came out shooting bulls-eyes, hitting three-pointers, running the floor, blocking shots and creating easy baskets off the break, Game 2 was cause for concern to the Celtics as they shot only 45% from the field and 26% from the three-point line. The Dallas Mavericks had made some adjustments and it resulted in a stagnant Celtics offense and very physical play.

Boston persevered through early adversity as All-Star forward Jayson Tatum scored 18 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had 12 assists – an impressive line – but struggled from the field, shooting 6-for-22 and 1-for-7 from downtown. Jaylen Brown picked up the slack, scoring 21 points but it was point guard Jrue Holiday who stepped up to lead the Celtics to a 105-98 victory and a 2-0 series lead.

Holiday scored a team high 26 points, adding 11 rebounds and three assists while giving Dallas point guard Kyrie Irving fits on the other end of the floor for the second consecutive game. Irving managed only 16 points and six assists, well below his 25.6 ppg regular season average.

The Boston victory did come with one set back, as center Kristaps Porzingis tweaked his sore calf which had sidelined him for a month leading into the NBA Finals. Porzingis labored up and down the court for three possessions before Boston coach Joe Mazulla sent Al Horford to the scorer’s table to return to action. Dallas was able to score an easy basket on Porzingis as he failed to get back on defense, making the score, 97-89 Boston.

Mazulla called time out to sub with 4:40 remaining in the game.

“Obviously something happened a little bit,” said Porzingis, “but I have a couple days [to get ready] again, and believe me, we’ll do everything we can to be back and moving.”

After a key Doncic turnover, Boston backcourt took over with Holiday making a 26-footer (100-89) and Derrick White following with the back-breaker for the Mavericks, a 26-footer to make it 103-89. Dallas fought back to make it 103-98 on a Doncic lay-up and subsequent free throw, but White blocked a PJ Washington lay-in and as Boston ran down the clock, Jaylen Brown scored on a short, three-footer to end the scoring with Boston up, 105-98.

Doncic had 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the losing effort.

Boston took a 83-74 lead as the buzzer sounded to end the third quarter and reserve guard Payton Pritchard banked home a 34-footer after crossing center court with no Dallas defender within reach. It capped a 29-23 third quarter tally to extend the Celtics’ lead to nine. After Dallas coach Jason Kidd subbed-out Doncic at the 3:27 mark, Kidd was forced to call a timeout and re-insert his best player into the game as his only reliable scorer. Irving continued to struggle from the field and he failed to orchestrate the Mavericks on offense as the TD Garden crowd let him have it with the jeers.

Both teams played a hard-fought, physical first half and Boston led, 54-51, behind 17 first half points by Holiday. The half was marked by tough, physical defense and poor long distance shooting by both clubs.

Boston shot a horrid 20% (3-of-15) from three-point land while Dallas shot a slightly better 30.8% (4-of-13) from downtown. Doncic was 3-of-6 from 3-point range and scored 23 first half points and leading the team in minutes played despite his pregame downgrade to questionable with a thoracic contusion added to his injury report in addition to the right knee sprain and left ankle soreness he’s been playing through for all of the NBA postseason.

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston Celtics stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown aren’t letting Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd create a rift between them ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals on Sunday night.

Kidd referred to Brown as Boston’s best player while speaking to reporters on Saturday. Whether he truly meant it or was simply trying to play mind games with the Celtics remains a mystery, but the comment didn’t elicit a reaction from Tatum or Brown.

“We understand that people try to drive a wedge in between us,” Tatum said. “Guess it’s a smart thing to do — or try to do. But we’ve been in this position for many years of guys trying to divide us and say that one of us should be traded or one’s better than the other. So it’s not our first time at the rodeo.”

Boston veteran Al Horford thought Kidd’s intentions were pretty clear.

“J-Kidd, man. I see what he’s doing,” Horford said. “Jaylen Brown is an unbelievable player … and very special for us.”

It will take a lot more than psychological warfare to slow down the Celtics if they manage to replicate their Game 1 performance. Boston cruised to a 107-89 victory on Thursday night, leading by as many as 29.

Brown finished with a team-high 22 points for the Celtics, while Kristaps Porzingis returned from a 10-game absence due to a calf strain to pour in 20 in 21 minutes off the bench. Tatum finished with 16 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

Luka Doncic went for 30 points and 10 boards for Dallas, but Kyrie Irving was held to just 12 points on 6-of-19 shooting. Irving missed all five of his 3-point attempts and committed three turnovers while being taunted by Boston fans all night.

Irving is now 0-11 in his past 11 games against the Celtics, a losing streak that he is confident he can shed on Sunday.

“Just got to calm our nerves, poise our nerves a little bit and also just be aware of the environment that we’re in,” Irving said. “It’s going to be high intense from who we’re going against. It’s going to be very physical. Some things are going to be called, some things aren’t.

“So I think we got all that experience in Game 1, and we’re looking forward to the challenge in Game 2 to playing better, and being who we have been since post-All-Star break. … We’re the only two teams playing, so we’re proud of ourselves, but we’re not satisfied.”

Most of the Mavericks’ struggles stemmed from a lack of ball movement, as Dallas finished with only nine assists — the fewest by any team in a game this season. Kidd is hoping for a more fluid performance in Game 2.

“I thought we were too much one-on-one. We’ve got to move bodies. We’ve got to move the ball. Multiple guys got to touch the ball,” Kidd said. “We were just too stagnant, and that’s not the way we play. So, we’ve got to be better (Sunday).”

– Field Level Media

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