The Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the fifth game of the NBA Finals series to be crowned champions of the 2023-24 season.
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With the victory, the series ends 4-1 in favor of the Celtics, a historic team that secures its eighteenth championship and thus leads as the franchise with the most NBA rings above their rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, who have 17 trophies.
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The Celtics hadn't won since 2008, when they were also crowned on June 17th.
In tonight's game, which ended with a score of 106-88, the Celtics began to dominate the Mavericks from the first quarter, which ended 28-18. This was in stark contrast to the fourth game, where the Mavericks dominated the Celtics to avoid being swept at their own home.
The Celtics' huge offensive continued in the second quarter, with the home team scoring 39 points in the quarter and ending with a half-court basket by Payton Pritchard that made the TD Garden shake just before halftime.
The first half ended with a score of 67-46 and at that moment Jayson Tatum already had 16 points, while Jaylen Brown followed with 15 and another 11 from Jrue Holiday showcased the strong offense with which the now champions started the game.
In the third quarter, the Mavericks made a comeback and won 21-19 even though the Celtics were still ahead 86-67. However, in the fourth and final quarter, the home team maintained their lead even though Dallas won the quarter 21-20.
Luka Doncic, star of the Mavericks, was completely stopped by the Celtics defense in the first half, where he only scored 9 points. However, he finished with 26 points in the game.
While for the Celtics, Jayson Tatum scored 31 points, Jaylen Brown 21, and Jrue Holiday 15 in the championship game.
Dominican basketball veteran Al Horford won his first championship in his 17-year NBA career.
Finally, the Most Valuable Player of the final was Jaylen Brown, who led the team alongside Jayson Tatum and won their coveted first NBA championship.