Sixteen years ago today, the Celtics won their 17th NBA Championship.
Now it is a record-breaking 18 after Boston cruised to a 106-88 win in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to claim the series 4-1 and another title.
With it, the Celtics passed the Los Angeles Lakers, who they were previously tied with for the most championships in NBA history.
Boston, who hit the second-most 3-pointers (1,351) in history during the regular season, finally got it going from deep to overwhelm Dallas.
That included a circus halfcourt buzzer beater from Payton Pritchard at halftime, which was the longest made shot in the Finals in the last 25 years according to ESPN Stats and Info, and gave Boston a 67-46 lead entering the third quarter.
The Celtics didn’t look back from that point as superstar duo Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, who were drafted in 2016 and 2017, finally had their crowning moment on basketball’s biggest stage.
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Brown, who at this stage seems the likeliest candidate to be named Finals MVP, had 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists while Tatum was heavily involved both as a scorer and playmaker, putting up 31 points to go with 11 assists.
It was heartbreak for Australian duo Josh Green and Dante Exum, although the pair can take solace in the fact they left it all out on the court, adding much-needed energy and shooting off the bench.
Green in particular was lethal from deep, making his first four 3-point attempts on his way to 14 points while also offering his trademark hustle and activity on both ends.
Neither team shot the ball particularly well to open the game, although the Mavericks in particular were struggling to get anything going early as they missed seven of their first eight shots.
Fortunately for them, Boston wasn’t particularly efficient either but Jrue Holiday was feasting in the paint with the Celtics’ first three field goals before Al Horford drained a 3-pointer for a 9-2 lead.
Doncic, having started the game by missing a few deep 3-point attempts, was more aggressive out of the timeout as he drove towards the rim and drew a foul for the and-1 to reduce Boston’s buffer to 9-5.
The Celtics were quickly able to extend that back out to 13-5 before Green made back-to-back 3-pointers as Doncic continued to work his way into the paint, kicking it out on both occasions to the Australian who made Boston pay for its drop coverage.
Exum also drained a 3-pointer late which had Dallas trailing 19-18 but a sloppy end to the period saw Boston go on a 9-0 run to finish the quarter on top 28-18.
The Celtics showed no signs of slowing down to open the second, adding two quick 3-pointers and making five of their first six field goals overall to extend their lead to 46-31.
Even as Green made it 3-for-3 from deep for Dallas, there was little he or Exum could do to stop a runaway Celtics team that just wasn’t missing as they pushed out to a 21-point lead by halftime.
That came after a miraculous shot beyond halfcourt from Pritchard, who was mobbed by teammates as his buzzer beater put Boston up 67-46.
It was Pritchard’s only three seconds on the court in Game 5 but he made the most of it, like he did when he pulled up from the logo for a buzzer beater in the third quarter of Game 3.
That miraculous shot from Pritchard ended up being a dagger for Dallas, who never really got close to challenging Boston as the Celtics went on to claim a comprehensive victory.
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Originally published as Celtics win record-breaking NBA title despite surprise Aussie shining light