Boston Celtics beat Dallas Mavericks in NBA finals to win record 18th title

The Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night to claim a record 18th NBA title, one more than their old rivals the Los Angeles Lakers.

“When you have few chances in life, you’ve got to take the bull by the horns and you’ve got to own it, and our guys owned it,” said Celtics 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. The series as a whole, 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.”

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.

The championship victory ends a series of near misses for the Celtics. As well as their defeat in the NBA finals two years ago, they had lost in the conference finals in four of the last eight seasons.

“What they gonna say now?” said when asked about those critics who had said this team could not live up to its promise. “What they gonna say now?”

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