Celtics
The Celtics were a team built from the ground up, organically, to raise a trophy at the end of the season.
The Celtics defeated the Mavericks 106-88 on Monday. They are the 2024 NBA champions.
Here are the takeaways.
1. The Celtics were by far the best team in the regular season. They were by far the best team in the Eastern Conference. And on Monday, they proved themselves the best team in the NBA.
This was not a team that was built by signing superstars, although Brad Stevens has been immensely shrewd in his moves throughout his tenure. This was not a team driven by a singular superstar, because both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were singularly spectacular.
This was a team built through great draft process and great identification of complementary players. This was a team that demolished everyone all year, that stormed through the Eastern Conference playoffs, that crushed the Mavericks so thoroughly (with one notable exception) that people not involved in the series complained incessantly that they were bored by the proceedings.
But the Celtics were not boring. This was a team built from the ground up, organically, to raise a trophy at the end of the season.
After years of coming up short, years of frustration, years of doubt, this was a team that proved itself one of the greatest in recent history. They are the deserving 2024 champions.
2. Jaylen Brown won the NBA Finals MVP and cursed so much that the ABC broadcast had to cut large portions of his speech. In it, he thanked his “brothers” and shouted out Jayson Tatum, who he said shared the MVP with him.
“It could have gone to anybody. It could have gone to Jayson,” Brown said. “Jayson, like I can’t talk enough about his selflessness. You know, I can’t talk enough about his attitude. It’s just how he approached not just this series or the Finals but just the playoffs in general. And we did it together as a team, and that was the most important thing.”
The Celtics became champions when all of their players were on the same page. Tatum and Brown have played together so long – and through so much – that when it came time to choose one of them, there probably wasn’t a bad choice. Brown pushed the Celtics through the early Finals games and defended Luka Doncic admirably throughout the series, contributing to the wear and tear that limited Doncic as the games dragged on. Tatum was the engine that propelled the Celtics offensively and nearly recorded a triple-double in the closeout victory with 31 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists.
In the end, after years of calling for them to be broken up, the Celtics needed both Jays to win a title. Basketball can be poetry sometimes.
“It’s a surreal feeling. Still has not really kicked in yet,” Tatum said. “Just trying, I guess, to enjoy the moment. I kept saying, ‘Wow.’
“These last seven years have been a roller coaster, up and down. I had to listen to all the s— that people said about me, and tonight, it was worth it.”
3. While the legacies of Brown and Tatum were cemented (and will only be built going forward) on Monday, the other legacy that deserves mention here is Al Horford, who won his first title at age 38 and was critical in the closeout game as well. Horford scored nine points, grabbed nine rebounds and finished with two steals.
Horford had an outsized importance to this team – the player who signed with the Celtics shortly after Brown was drafted and who returned to the team as soon as Brad Stevens took over control of the roster. He helped them win games, but he also showed the stars how to be professionals.
“His performance all season long, like Al is 37, 38 years old, and we leaned on him so much. Probably too much for his age and where he’s at,” Brown said. “He just delivered. So consistent, so disciplined with his body. Never complains. The only thing he does is add to winning.
“For him, great teammate. It’s been an honor to be by his side. And Al Horford is a real-life legend and hero. It’s been great to be his teammate.”
“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet,” Horford said. “I’m going through the emotions right now, but I don’t feel like it’s over. This is an unbelievable feeling. Yeah, the confetti, everything is going on, but it just hasn’t hit me yet.”
4. For those of you who are agnostic toward the concept of Basketball Gods, please consider the following evidence left to us: Dante Exum could have hoisted a full-court shot at the end of the first quarter, and he instead opted to dribble out the clock in a do-or-die Game 5 of the NBA Finals.
By contrast, with the Celtics up by 18 following a big layup by Luka Doncic, Payton Pritchard fired up a half-court shot and – for the second time in the Finals – he buried it at the buzzer.
“I think he won us moments,” Joe Mazzulla said. “You know, as the playoffs go on, obviously some patterns change and things change, but those guys have to win moments of games for you, and Payton did that twice for us. That is just as important as any other plays that happened throughout the series and in the playoffs alone. I’ve got a huge heart for him.”
Every once in a while, the Basketball Gods show themselves to those who are open to receiving them.
Open your heart. Take the half-court heave.
5. Derrick White chipped a tooth diving for a loose ball when Dereck Lively mushed his face into the parquet floor.
“Oh, you sure is ugly,” Brown informed him when he caught sight of White’s smile.
Less ugly: This incredible block when White got Lively back.
White said being a Celtic has elevated him.
“They just drive me in so many different ways, from top to bottom,” he said. “I’m just so thankful and grateful for each and every one of them. They made me a better player and made me a better person. The city of Boston, everything, has just been amazing for me.”
6. Kristaps Porzingis returned to the floor for 16 minutes. Playing through an injury that he told ESPN would eventually require surgery, he managed to score five points and bought Horford some time on the bench.
“That was awesome,” Mazzulla said. “It’s a huge credit to him. Like I said, I know he’s been in and out in the playoffs, but he’s worked his ass off to try and get in and play as much as he could.
“[…] Even though he wasn’t a hundred percent, he said he wanted to play, and he knew he could give us something. And I thought that the minutes he gave us were valuable. It speaks to who he is, and it speaks to the locker room.”
7. As Tatum doubled over in emotion on the floor, he was joined by his son Deuce. Tatum embraced Deuce, who said something to him that the cameras didn’t catch.
What was it?
“He told me that I was the best in the world,” Tatum said. “I said, ‘You’re damn right I am.’”
8. What does Jrue Holiday hope people take away from this run?
“That we did it together,” the now-two-time champion said. “I hope that when people watch us play, they see the joy that we play with, that we love playing together, and we got it done together. I feel like that’s the most important thing.”
Not to worry, Jrue. It was evident throughout the year.
9. Kyrie Irving was removed from the blowout in the closing minutes, and he congratulated numerous Celtics on his way off the floor.
“It was emotional,” Irving said. “I mean, every series was emotional, just because I was just uncertain on how it was going to go and how we were going to respond to a little bit of adversity. We finally ran into a team where they beat us fair and square, and we weren’t able to respond to a lot of their runs and we weren’t able to execute at a high level. So when I was shaking everybody’s hands, that was more of a sign of respect for their journey. They have been through an incredible five-year span of going to Game 7s or losing in the Finals, so they know what this bitter feeling feels like being up here answer answering questions about when this next year holds and I think they used everything as motivation.
“They were healthy, and they really kept their head down and weren’t paying attention to any of the personal accolades or individual accolades. I think they just came together as a team and were okay with each person being great in their role and selflessly putting their best foot forward. So I think we learned more than anything from this series on what it takes to not only get back to this level, but win at this level, and the Celtics are the perfect example for us this season because of how much they have had to deal with in the past few years.”
10. We usually end the takeaways by noting the next game. The next time the Celtics take the floor, there will be a banner and rings involved.
“Banner No. 18 has been hanging over our head for so many years,” Tatum said. “To know that we’re going to be engraved in history, and it still hasn’t like registered. I’m just still trying to process it all.
“But we did it. We won a championship.”
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