The Celtics won their first NBA championship in 16 years Monday with their 106-88 victory over the Mavericks.
Boston smashed Dallas at the TD Garden in Game 5, performing well enough to give each of its top players a fourth-quarter curtain call while winning the team’s NBA-record 18th championship.
The Celtics’ NBA Finals victory was a true team effort. Stars like Jrue Holiday, Derrick White, Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis each had big moments and outings during the series to help the Celtics dispatch the Mavericks in just five games.
But per usual, Boston’s “two Jays” — Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown — served as the team’s catalysts. The All-NBA talents took turns posting gaudy, well-rounded numbers throughout the series, with Brown serving as the more efficient scorer among the two and Tatum dominating on the glass and as a playmaker.
In the end, only one could hoist the Bill Russell Award, given to the NBA Finals MVP. To the surprise of many, Brown received the honor despite Tatum’s 31-point double-double in the close-out game.
Why did Brown get the nod over Tatum for one of the NBA’s most prestigious awards? Here’s a breakdown of Tatum and Brown’s stats from the five-game series against the Mavericks.
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Jayson Tatum vs. Jaylen Brown stats
Tatum actually beat Brown across most counting stats during the NBA Finals. Tatum averaged more points, rebounds and assists than his wingman and posted the highest single-game scoring output between the two with 31 (achieved in both Games 3 and 5).
However, Brown was the more efficient of the two shooting the ball, shooting a respectable 44 percent from the field and posting a field goal percentage better than 53.3 percent in three of the five contests.
Brown also had a bigger impact defensively than Tatum, posting multiple steals in three games and performing well as a primary defender against Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
Below is a look at the per-game stats of the two stars from the five-game series.
| Jayson Tatum | Jaylen Brown | |
| Minutes | 40.2 | 38.5 |
| Points | 22.2 | 20.8 |
| Rebounds | 7.8 | 5.4 |
| Assists | 7.2 | 5.0 |
| Steals | 1.0 | 1.6 |
| Blocks | 0.6 | 0.8 |
| Turnovers | 3.2 | 2.8 |
| Field goal % | 38.8 | 44.0 |
| 3-point % | 26.3 | 23.5 |
| Free throw % | 92.6 | 73.3 |
Those looking for a tiebreaker between the evenly-matched duo could have looked at the advanced stats for the playoffs. Tatum had a slight edge over Brown in most categories there.
| Jayson Tatum | Jaylen Brown | |
| Win shares | 2.7 | 2.0 |
| Box plus minus | 3.7 | 1.8 |
| Value over replacement player | 1.1 | 0.7 |
| Player efficiency rating | 20.1 | 19.1 |
That said, those stats were from the playoffs as a whole, not just the NBA Finals. Thus, those voting on the NBA Finals faced a true coin-flip decision based on the stats from the series. That’s exactly what the voting results for the award reflected.
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2024 NBA Finals MVP voting results
The NBA chose a panel of 11 journalists to select the NBA Finals MVP for 2024. Brown won the vote 7-4 over Tatum.
Here’s a look at how the votes shook out, via a press release from the NBA.
| Voter | MVP |
| Sam Amick, The Athletic | Jaylen Brown |
| Malika Andrews, ESPN | Jayson Tatum |
| Tim Bontemps, ESPN.com | Jaylen Brown |
| Doris Burke, ABC | Jayson Tatum |
| P.J. Carlesimo, ESPN Radio | Jayson Tatum |
| Mike Curtis, Dallas Morning News | Jaylen Brown |
| Vince Goodwill, Yahoo Sports | Jaylen Brown |
| Shaun Powell, NBA.com | Jaylen Brown |
| Simone Sandri, La Gazzetta dello Sport (Italy) | Jaylen Brown |
| Gary Washburn, Boston Globe | Jayson Tatum |
| Jeff Zillgett, USA Today | Jaylen Brown |
Brown also won the Eastern Conference Finals MVP award for his strong performance in Boston’s four-game sweep of the Pacers. And generally, he played the best basketball of his career at the right time to help deliver the Celtics a championship.
But as he conceded while accepting the NBA Finals MVP, “it was a full team effort” that brought an 18th NBA title to Boston after a 16-year drought.
“I share this with my brothers, and my partner in crime Jayson Tatum,” Brown told ESPN’s Lisa Salters during the trophy presentation. “He was with me the whole way, so we share this s— together.”