Boston Celtics are the 2024 NBA Champions After Routing Dallas, 106-88 to End Series in Game 5
By Teodoro Medina Reynoso
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 18 Jun 2024
The Boston Celtics defeated the Dallaa Mavericks, 106-88 to end their Finals series in five games and clinch their first NBA championship since 2008.
The series victory put the Celtics again as the winningest franchise in the league with 18 championships, one more than the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Mavs were hoping they could carry over the momentum and shock of their game 4 136-88 rout of the Celtics in Dallas in this game to extend the series to at least another game back in their home floor.
But any hope vanished when the Celtics limited them to just a basket in the opening three minutes of the game on the way to a 9-2 lead. In that span, both Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving could not buy a basket.
That set the tone for the remainder of the first half and the whole game for that matter as Doncic and especially Irving continued to struggle with their offense which their supporting crew likewise failed to compensate with better performance.
Though Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown also have sub par shooting, they got ample support from their crew especially Jrue Holiday and Derreck White and likewise Al Horford who not only contributed on offense but also on defense. Even Kristaps Porzingis despite hobbling on one good leg, made his presence felt on both ends.
Boston virtually sewed the game up in the first half, scoring 67 points while limiting Dallas to just 46 points. For the next two quarters, all the Mavs can do was reduce the deficit to below 20 points until the final score.
Frustration as well as surrender was written all over Doncic's face when he returned to the Mavs bench for good with the team only having a total of 85 points to show with barely two minutes left in the game.
It was garbage time by that point with coaches Jason Kidd and Joe Mazzula fielding their reserves to finish the game.
No one aptly summed up the game than Holiday who said the Celtics win was a "total team effort with everyone locked in".
Jaylen Brown was voted as the Finals MVP. He was the Celtics heart as much as it can be said that this Celtics champion team was Jason Tatum's.
Tatum led Boston with 31 points despite overall poor field shooting. Brown backed him up with 21 points. Holiday, who hounded both Doncic and Irving was good for 15 points and team high 11 rebounds. White added 14 points while Horford chipped in 9 points.
Doncic still managed with a team topscoring 28 points and 12 rebounds. Irving limped home with 15 points and team high 9 assists. Josh Green had 14 points and Derrick Jones Jr put in 10 points. JP Washington, Daniel Galford and Derrick Lively II could only put up single digits.
The author Teodoro Medina Reynoso is a veteran boxing radio talk show host living in the Philippines. He can be reached at teddyreynoso@yahoo.com and by phone 09215309477.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Teodoro Medina Reynoso.
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