2024 NBA Finals: Boston Celtics win record 18th title with game 5 victory over Dallas Mavericks
The Celtics, led by Paris 2024 athletes Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday, won the series 4-1 as they secured a record 18th NBA title
Basketball
The Boston Celtics secured the 2024 NBA basketball title with a 106-88 game 5 win against the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.
After falling to their first defeat of the series on Saturday, the Celtics bounced back with a home win at the TD Garden on Monday (18 June) to take the series 4-1. An 18th NBA title establishes them as the most successful team in NBA history, going clear of the Los Angeles Lakers with 17 wins.
The Celtics have two NBA champions among their ranks, who are set to be heading to the Olympic Games Paris 2024 with the United States. Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday both won gold at Tokyo 2020 held in 2021, and have been announced as members of the US men’s basketball squad aiming to defend their title in Paris this July.
Tatum topped the scoring charts in the decisive win with 31 points, as well as 11 assists and eight rebounds. His partnership with Jaylen Brown has proved to be the recipe for success this season, with his teammate scoring 21 points in Game 5 and linking up superbly with Tatum.
Holiday led the Celtics with the most rebounds of the game with 11, accumulating 15 points in the victory as he collected his second NBA ring. The only man on court to have more rebounds was the Mavericks’ Luka Dončić, who could also be heading to Paris 2024 with Slovenia.
An emphatic first half display gave the Celtics one hand on the trophy, and although they were narrowly outscored in the final two quarters, it did not matter as they cruised to victory with their joint-second highest score of the NBA Finals.