The 2023/24 National Basketball Association (NBA) season culminated on Monday, June 17 after the Boston Celtics demolished the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 in Games 5 of the Finals series to capture their 18th championship, exactly 16 years to the date of winning their 17th in 2008.

Boston was the only team to break the 60-win mark and had the best regular-season record (64-18) in the NBA, then navigated through the playoffs with a 16-3 record, never losing more than one game in any series and swept the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals. They played their worst game of the season last Friday (June 14) in their first chance to close the series out, and the opportunity to execute back-to-back sweeps, then responded with a resounding wire-to-wire victory Monday.

The Celtics had expertly managed the first three games of the series before Game 4 last Friday and it looked like the sweep was inevitable. However, with pride on the line, Dallas put a chokehold on Boston and wouldn’t let up, holding the Celtics to 35 first-half points — the fewest the team has scored in any half under Head Coach Joe Mazzulla — and denying them the anticipated sweep. Facing the prospect of being the 10th team to ever be swept in the NBA Finals, Dallas started strong, building a 13-point lead late in the first quarter and extended their advantage to 61-35 at half-time. There was no let-up in the second half and by the end of the third quarter, the Mavericks held a 32-point lead, the second largest ever in NBA Finals history, ending in a 122-84 win.

The story of the series was rebounding and Dallas outrebounded Boston 52-31 in Game 4, the only game in the series in which they had that advantage, and won by 38 points, the third-biggest blowout in NBA Finals history and the largest loss for the Celtics in any game since the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals. The loss snapped Boston’s NBA playoff record, 10-game win streak in a single postseason and marked their first road defeat in these playoffs, dropping them to 7-1 away from TD Garden.

Boston rebounded in Game 5 on Monday on the strength of defence and 31 points, eight rebounds, and 11 assists from Jayson Tatum, and 21 points, eight rebounds, and six assists from Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Jaylen Brown. The Celtics erected a 21-point lead at half-time, with Payton Pritchard heaving a half-court shot to ensure the comfortable advantage and to leave the home crowd with something to savour at the break.

The Celtics extended their lead to as much as 26 points in the third quarter and never let the Mavericks get within striking distance. Truth be told, Boston’s scoring nose-dived significantly in the second half — 67 in the first and 39 in the second — but Dallas couldn’t capitalise on the falloff as their offence also took a dip in the last 24 minutes — 46 in the first and 42 in the second.

As a team, the Celtics dominated the glass with a 51-35 rebounding edge, and they forced 13 Mavericks turnovers, while giving up the ball just seven times. Another running theme throughout the series was assists, as the team leading that statistical category always won the game. Boston skewed the season average from Game 1, dishing out 23 compared to just nine for Dallas and averaged 24.2 per game against 15 per game for Dallas. The Mavericks bettered the Celtics 21 to 18 in Game 4.

With the 16-3 playoff run, the Celtics are second only to the 2016/17 Golden State Warriors (16-1) since the NBA went to four best-of-seven rounds of the playoffs in 2003, and until Monday night’s victory they had played more postseason games over an eight-season span without winning a title than any other team in NBA history.

Other notable achievements following the Boston win:

• Head Coach Mazzulla, in his second season, at age 35, became the youngest coach since Bill Russell in 1969 to lead a team to a championship.

• Tatum had the fifth-most career playoff points at the time of his first championship – trailing the late Jerry West, LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant, respectively.

• Al Horford played in 186 playoff games before his first title – the most in NBA history prior to getting a championship – and became the first player from Dominica to win an NBA championship.

• Kristaps Porzingis became the first player born in Latvia to win an NBA championship.

• Jrue Holiday became the only player in NBA history to win a championship in his first season with two separate franchises (minimum 30 minutes per game in the playoffs) – He also won in 2021 with the Milwaukee Bucks.

• And possibly the eeriest fact after missing out on the sweep last week Friday: The Celtics earned their 17th title on June 17, 2008 (6-17-2008), their 18th title on June 17, 2024 (6-17-2024), and Boston’s Area Code is 617, go figure.

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