NBA Finals: Tatum leads Celtics to 18th title

The Boston Celtics are the new NBA champions after defeating the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 on Tuesday morning to take the best-of-seven series 4-1.

Jayson Tatum led his team to victory with 31 points, and he was in tears when substituted with a minute left on the clock. Jaylen Brown poured in 21 points and Jrue Holiday added 15 points. Brown was named the Most Valuable Player of the finals.

It was a dominant performance after the Game 4 setback which the Celtics lost by 38 points.

“I dreamed of this moment, of what it would be like [but] it is 10 times better than what I ever could have imagined,” Tatum beamed in the aftergame interview. “You go through your career, long season; ups and downs, and you get to hear what everybody says on TV, and it’s all about getting to this moment.”

“I have been on the other side and I know how it feels to lose and it is the worst feeling in the world but I think going through that made this a lot better.”

He continued, “I have been to the Conference Finals five times; I went to the final twice, lost to the Heat. It’s like you work so hard and you get so close and it’s like you’re not getting over the hump.

“You are playing seven weeks longer than everybody and you don’t have anything to show for it. But now I do; I got a trophy,” Tatum exhaled.

Across the five games, Tatum averaged 22 points, and he was the standout performer in Games 3 and 5, where he scored 31 points. According to Marca, “Tatum’s 16 first-half points elevated his career playoff total to 2,696 points, making him the highest-scoring player aged 26 or younger in playoff history,” better than his idol, the late Kobe Bryant.

It is also a fairytale story for Coach Joe Mazzulla, who got his chance to lead the Celtics after Ime Udoka was suspended for the entire 2022/23 season. He was thereafter named the substantive coach in February 2023.

Just over a year later, he led the Celtics to their 18th NBA title.