NEWSLETTER
The Boston Celtics have completed one of the most dominant playoff runs of all time en route to their league-best 18th NBA title.
With their blowout win over Dallas tonight, the Celtics closed out a 4-1 series win and will end their amazing playoff run with a 16-3 record over four rounds. They may not have had the most difficult path to a championship, but they were absolutely dominant on their way to the title and left no doubt who the better team was in each series they played.
Boston Celtics Win 18th NBA Title
While no road to an NBA Championship is ever really an easy one, Boston sure did make it look that way. Outside of a Game 4 effort that Boston quickly flushed, they overwhelmed the Dallas Mavericks never let their dynamic duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving get on the same page.
Meanwhile, Boston’s core duo finished with a combined 51 points and 17 assists in the closeout victory.
The Celtics came very close to the mountaintop in the last two years with an NBA Finals loss to the Warriors and an Eastern Conference Finals loss to Miami. General Manager Brad Stevens made some bold moves, adding to his core this offseason. And they pretty much all paid off.
He traded spark plug Marcus Smart. He brought in oft-injured Kristaps Porzingis, who provided the team with much-needed length and rim protection, as well as the ability to stretch the floor. He also turned Robert Williams II, Malcolm Brogdon, and multiple first-round picks into Jrue Holiday, which may have been the biggest move of them all.
Holiday gave Boston a proven winner and a true defensive stopper at guard, while also possessing the offensive ability to score in bunches. Holiday even led the team in scoring during a huge Game 2 victory. The Bucks moving on from Holiday in favor of Damian Lillard ended up being the domino that probably vaulted their conference rivals to an NBA Title.
This Boston Celtics group isn’t likely to go anywhere, either. Via Spotrac, they don’t have any free agents to worry about until 2025. Jayson Tatum is also likely to sign a max extension that will make him the highest-paid player in NBA history this summer. So as long as they’re willing to dip deep into the luxury tax, they’ll be able to do that just fine.
Actually, on DraftKings, the Celtics are a HEAVY favorite to win the 2025 NBA Championship at +280 with the Nuggets having the next-best odds at +700. So get used to it folks, we probably haven’t seen the last of these Celtics in the NBA Finals.
Congrats to the Boston Celtics on a great season!
