NBA playoffs 2024 - The Boston Celtics have never been better-equipped to win the Finals - ESPN

When the Boston Celtics host Game 1 of the NBA Finals on June 6, it will be the franchise's 81st playoff game over the past five seasons. No team in league history has played as many postseason games without winning at least one championship in the span.

Aside from a first-round loss in 2021, the Celtics have been a fixture in the later rounds of the NBA playoffs with their core led by Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, who have reached the Eastern Conference finals in four of the past five years and are now heading to their second Finals together. But Boston hasn't been able to translate that success into an 18th banner in the TD Garden.

Yet there are several reasons to believe this year's Celtics, favored over the Dallas Mavericks (or the Minnesota Timberwolves, should they complete a historic comeback from a 3-0 series deficit), can break that title drought by hoisting the Larry O'Brien Trophy next month.

Let's take a closer look at three indicators that prove this is Boston's best team of this era.

Although the Celtics' young stars already had plenty of deep postseason runs under their belts by the time they reached the 2022 Finals, they couldn't compare in terms of experience to their opponents, the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors were playing in their sixth Finals in eight years, all led by stars Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson.

Although Golden State's Finals win was highlighted in part by newcomer Andrew Wiggins, the Warriors' comfort playing on the NBA's biggest stage surely helped them beat Boston in six games. More generally, last season's Eastern Conference finals loss to the Miami Heat was the only time in this five-year run Boston has lost to a team with fewer total games of playoff