Boston Celtics rout Dallas Mavericks to win record 18th NBA crown

BOSTON – One of the first to congratulate Boston Celtics star Jayson Tatum on winning the National Basketball Association (NBA) championship was his six-year-old son.

“He told me that I was the best in the world. I said, ‘You’re damn right I am’,” the 26-year-old forward said.

Tatum certainly looked like it on June 17, recording 31 points and 11 assists as Boston locked up their league-record 18th title with a 106-88 home blowout of the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals.

He also had eight rebounds while Jaylen Brown added 21 points, eight boards and six assists for the Celtics, whose 17th championship triumph was all the way back in 2008.

“It’s a hell of a feeling. I dreamt about what it would be like, but this is 10 times better,” Tatum added.

The Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2008 Finals, and the two franchises shared the NBA record with 17 titles apiece before Boston’s game on June 17.

Brown was selected the Finals Most Valuable Player, an award named after Celtics legend Bill Russell, after averaging 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and five assists in their 4-1 series win. He admired Russell, making the honour all the more special.

“I can’t even put it into words. Just Bill Russell and what he’s meant for me through my Boston journey... For this to be the Bill Russell MVP award... I don’t even know what to say,” he said.

Jrue Holiday had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and Derrick White chipped in 14 points as Boston bounced back from a 122-84 loss to wrap up the best-of-seven series.

“We did it together. I hope that when people watch us play, they see that we love playing together,” Holiday said.

The victory was also sweeter because the Celtics suffered a traumatic Game 7 home-court loss to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals last season.

That shattering defeat came a year after Boston had lost 4-2 to Golden State in the NBA Finals, with the Warriors clinching the series on Boston’s home court.

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who at 35 is the youngest head coach to win an NBA crown since Russell in 1968 at the age of 34, said past disappointments had forged a determination to succeed among his players.

“It really starts with them. You can’t have a philosophy or a way of playing if you don’t have a group of guys that are willing to buy into it and be disciplined,” he said.

“This group of guys has been through so much in the league, they know what it takes.”

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.

Doncic is confident that the Mavericks’ best days are ahead of them despite the defeat, adding: “I’m proud of every guy that stepped on the floor. Obviously, we didn’t win (the) Finals, but we did have a hell of a season.”

After Dallas, trailing by 11 points, called a timeout with 3min 11sec left in the second quarter, Boston completely broke the game open. They scored 17 of the next 24 points, six of which came from Brown.

Payton Pritchard capped the outburst in jaw-dropping fashion, with a 49-foot heave from half court at the buzzer to send the Celtics into the break with a 67-46 cushion.

Dallas later got the deficit down to 17, but Boston took an 86-67 lead into the fourth quarter. The Celtics were on top by at least 18 the rest of the way. “The turnovers (13 to Boston’s seven) led to easy baskets or wide-open threes (for the Celtics),” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd lamented. “So they took advantage of that.” REUTERS, AFP