The 2024 NBA Finals are in the books. The Boston Celtics are champions. And Jaylen Brown is the Finals MVP after defeating the Dallas Mavericks, 106-88, in Game 5.
But he obviously wasn’t the only player to leave an impact on this series. It featured several stars, including Jayson Tatum, Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving.
The final report cards for those four and more can be found below.
Kristaps Porziņģis missed most of this postseason with a calf injury. He came back for the Finals in a more limited role than the one he played during the regular season. And shortly thereafter, he got hurt again.
A torn medial retinaculum limited him to just three appearances and 60 minutes in the series against Dallas. But his impact in those 60 minutes was massive.
Despite only playing three games, KP led both the Celtics and Mavericks in total plus-minus for the series at plus-33.
His shot-making and shot-blocking were both massive factors off the bench in a Game 1 blowout. He had 20 points and three blocks in just 21 minutes in that one. And his absences were certainly felt in two games in Dallas.
The Celtics surely knew there would be durability concerns with Porziņģis when they traded for him, but even with multiple injuries during the postseason, he proved himself to be one of this past offseason’s most important acquisitions.
Dallas’ lack of depth became painfully apparent throughout the Finals. The Mavs may well have had the two most talented individual players in this series in Luka and Kyrie, but it was often hard to find difference-makers beyond those two.
Derrick Jones Jr. certainly wasn’t one. His defense, high-flying finishes and occasional threes were crucial in a strong closing kick to the regular season and the first three rounds of the playoffs, but he was often darn-near invisible in the Finals.
He averaged 6.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists, while shotoing 43.3 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from deep.
To be fair, invisibility sometimes comes with the job when playing with a superstar who dominates the ball like Luka can, but there are ways to make an impact that don’t show up in the box score. Jones didn’t provide many of those either.
His basic averages (7.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 steals for the Finals) won’t leap off the screen, but 38-year-old Al Horford being able to step in and start for the injured Porziņģis is a huge part of why Boston just snagged its 18th banner.
He had a higher plus-minus than Tatum for the series, and his shooting helped keep Dallas’ defense spread mighty thin. Horford shot 47.1 percent from three for the series.
After 17 NBA seasons, he now has his first NBA championship, and this was far from a ring-chasing scenario. Horford was in Boston for much of the years-long buildup to this, and his defense, unselfishness and shooting were critical in winning it all.
It’s hard to imagine the Mavericks getting past the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round without P.J. Washington. He averaged 17.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.8 threes, while shooting 46.9 percent from deep in that series.
He cooled off a bit against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but his defensive versatility was still important in the conference finals.
In this matchup against Boston, his impact on the series was almost completely muted.
Washington was tasked with some difficult defensive assignments, including Brown and Tatum, at times. And neither Celtics star shot great. But he wasn’t able to get much going on offense, where he averaged 10.8 points and shot 40.9 percent from the field.
Derrick White wasn’t quite as explosive a scorer as he was in earlier series (he averaged 22.4 points against the Miami Heat in the first round). He also struggled on twos against Dallas. And his playmaking volume was way down.
But White has grown to be one of the league’s most consistent and impactful perimeter defenders since he was traded to the Celtics, and he left an impression on that end against Dallas.
White defended Kyrie for 100 possessions in the Finals, and the Mavs’ offensive rating for those possessions was well below their playoff-long mark.
The player he guarded the second most? Washington, who’s five inches taller and 35 pounds heavier than Irving. And Dallas’ offense scored at an even lower rate in those situations.
White’s versatility was on vivid display against the Mavericks, and he hit some timely threes, too.
So, while 13.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists may not sound like a ton, White’s defense and 38.9 three-point percentage were big factors on the way to the championship.
Relative to his age and experience level, Dereck Lively II was excellent in the Finals.
His energy, particularly as an offensive rebounder, swung multiple stretches in Dallas’ favor. By the end of the series, it was clear coach Jason Kidd trusted him more than Daniel Gafford (whom he continued to start).
In just 22.8 minutes, Lively averaged 5.6 points and 8.2 rebounds. He shot 70.6 percent from deep and even made a three in Game 4.
Given the fact that he was a rookie for this campaign, it’s safe to expect Lively to become one of the league’s most exciting up-and-coming rim-runners.
With his mobility and solid shooting form, we might even be able to expect more than that.
Three years after being the “missing piece” who put the Milwaukee Bucks over the top in their title pursuit, Jrue Holiday filled the same role (or at least one awfully close to it) for Boston.
This series, he guarded Kyrie more than any other Celtic. He averaged 14.4 points, while shooting 53.6 percent from the field and 42.1 percent from deep. He didn’t miss a free throw. And he averaged 7.4 rebounds.
Holiday could’ve easily joined this team and insisted on being a primary playmaker. He was already a championship-winning point guard when he arrived. Instead, he was malleable. His unselfishness led to plenty of on-ball opportunities for White, Tatum and Brown.
And his willingness to do all the proverbial “little things” was a driving factor behind two of the last four NBA championships.
By the end of the Finals, Kyrie Irving’s series-long numbers were respectable. He put up 19.8 points and 5.0 assists, while only turning it over 1.8 times per game.
You can chalk a lot of his struggles up to just missing shots, which can happen to any star on any given night. But it wasn’t random for Kyrie against the Celtics.
In Dallas, he averaged 28.0 points, while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from three. In Boston, those numbers dropped to 14.3, 34.0 and 17.6.
The Mavericks needed Kyrie to be an absolute superstar to have a chance in this series. He was nowhere near that level on the road, and the Mavs went 0-3 in those games.
He may not have won Finals MVP, but Tatum led the Celtics in total points, rebounds and assists.
Even when he wasn’t shooting well, which was the case in Games 1, 2 and 4, he was making an impact as a defender or playmaker.
And it’s not like his biggest strength was totally missing in action. Tatum had his second 31-point performance of the series in the closeout game.
So, while his 38.8 field-goal percentage and 26.3 three-point percentage certainly left something to be desired, Tatum just averaged 22.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists in the Finals and on the way to a championship.
It’s hard to gripe much about that.
Luka’s defense became the subject of lowlight reels during the series. That and his approach to the league’s referees were the subject of stern and viral criticism from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
He took 9.0 threes per game and only shot 24.4 percent from deep. His 5.6 assists per game were way below his career norms. His 4.6 turnovers were way high. He was disqualified from Game 3 after making a questionable decision to try to take a charge with five fouls.
There are plenty of valid criticisms for Dončić’s Finals performance, but there’s also the stark reality that he was up against an historically great team with a supporting cast that just wasn’t good enough to truly challenge Boston.
And in the moments when the Mavericks actually did look competitive, Luka was predictably a catalyst.
His 29.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.6 steals aren’t as good as the averages we’re used to seeing from him, including in the postseason, but this was a future legend’s first crack at the Finals. There were bound to be some growing pains.
Like Tatum, Brown struggled with his shot. He made just 23.5 percent of his triples, but he was a worthy recipient of the Finals MVP trophy.
Brown averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.6 steals. He may have sealed the series with a 15-point third quarter in Game 3. He had statement dunks and timely jumpers.
But his most important contribution to the series came on the defensive end.
Brown defended Luka for over 150 possessions, more than twice as many as the next Celtic. And in those possessions, Dallas’ offensive rating was just 84.8. For context, the Mavericks scored 119.6 points per 100 possessions with Luka on the floor in the regular season and 113.8 in the playoffs.
Brown’s tenacity on the ball and attention off of it completely disrupted one of the league’s best attacks and clearly impacted one of the greatest offensive talents of all time.
In the second Finals of his young career, even with some missed shots, Brown aced the exam.