THE Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 on Monday night to claim a record 18th NBA title, one more than their old rivals the Los Angeles Lakers.
“You have very few chances in life to be great … you’ve got to take the bull by the horns and you’ve got to own it, and our guys owned it,” said the Celtics’ 35-year-old coach, Joe Mazzulla, at the trophy presentation ceremony.
What many had expected to be a hard-fought series ended up as a relative stroll, which the Celtics wrapped up with victory on their home court – they led by 21 points at halftime and were never behind the entire night.
The series, which the Celtics won 4-1, was never seriously in doubt, even when the Mavericks won Game 4 in a 38-point blowout last Friday. The same could be said for the Celtics’ entire playoff campaign, during which they dropped only three games.
“We’ve responded all year and this was no different,” said Celtics forward Jayson Tatum after the game, when asked how the Game 4 blowout affected Monday night’s performance. “We owed our fans, it been a long journey. It’s been a long journey,” as reported by the guardian.com
Tatum, who was named to the All-NBA first team for the third time this season, was superb on Monday night, putting up 31 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds. The victory came exactly 16 years after the Celtics last won the NBA title, in 2008.
Jaylen Brown, who had 21 points on the night, was named finals MVP.
“It was a full team effort and I’m going to share this with my brothers and my partner in crime Jayson Tatum, he was with me the whole way,” said Brown, before embracing Tatum.
