Celtics stomp Mavericks in Game 5, clinch record 18th NBA title - ESPN

BOSTON — Behind 31 points, 8 rebounds and 11 assists from Jayson Tatum and 21 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists from Finals MVP Jaylen Brown, the Boston Celtics blew out the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 to win the 2024 NBA Finals, winning a record-setting 18th NBA title on the 16th anniversary of when they won their 17th championship in this same building.

In doing so, the Celtics passed their forever rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers, for the most titles in NBA history.

Boston, after having its worst game of the season in its first chance to close this series out Friday night, responded with a wire-to-wire victory Monday. Big performances from both Tatum and Brown allowed Boston to put the game away early — much like it did back in 2008, when the Celtics routed the Lakers in Game 6 at TD Garden to win their most recent championship.

That allowed the Celtics to build a 21-point lead at halftime — with a second Payton Pritchard half-court heave of the series emphatically sending Boston into the break with a comfortable lead, and sending the sellout crowd here at TD Garden into an absolute frenzy.

The crowd had been in a fervent state since before the game even began, but particularly when Kristaps Porzingis — who had missed Games 3 and 4 with a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg that he suffered in Game 2 — checked into the game midway through the first quarter. Porzingis finished with just 5 points in 16 minutes but gave Boston some valuable minutes spelling Al Horford off the bench.

The Celtics went 16-3 during their playoff run, second only to the 2017 Warriors for best win percentage in a single postseason since all four playoff rounds became best-of-7 in 2003.

Kyrie