2024 NBA Finals

• 1. Eighteen

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  The crowd at TD Garden fell silent before Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals on the 6th of June. Bill Walton had died on the 27th of May at the age of 71. He was a broadcaster, a two-time NBA champion, and the sixth man on the Celtics' 1986 title team. His family sat in the stands. The Celtics players wore black shooting shirts bearing his name on a tie-dye background. Arena staff wore pins with a matching design.

  The 2024 NBA Finals matched the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics against the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks. For Boston, a victory would deliver the franchise's 18th championship. That total would exceed the Los Angeles Lakers by one, making the Celtics the most decorated team in NBA history. The Celtics' last title had come in 2008.

  For Dallas, simply reaching the Finals required a story. The Mavericks had spent the first half of the season barely above .500. They reached the playoffs as the fifth seed in the Western Conference. They entered the Finals without having held home-court advantage in any round of the playoffs. Only one of the four previous teams in NBA history to accomplish that had gone on to win.

  This was the first playoff meeting between the two franchises. No teams from Greater Boston and the Dallas-Fort Worth area had ever met in any major North American sports league's postseason. Eleven days and five games would decide who closed the gap with history.

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• 2. Championship or Bust

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  The 2023-24 Celtics finished the regular season with a league-best 64-18 record. That mark represented the highest Eastern Conference win percentage since the 2012-13 Miami Heat. Boston won all of their first 20 home games. They held the first seed in the Eastern Conference from mid-November onward.

  An offensive rating of 123.2 was the highest ever recorded in NBA history. They tied the third-best net rating in league history at 11.6. They outscored opponents by an average of 11.3 points per game. Their points per possession of 1.22 was the highest in league history. The gap between Boston and the second-place team in the Eastern Conference was 14 games, the widest since 1976.

  The team traded longtime guard Marcus Smart for center Kristaps Porziņģis ahead of that season. They also brought in Jrue Holiday while sending out Robert Williams III, Malcolm Brogdon, and two first-round draft picks. The rebuilt lineup centered on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, known as the 'Jays.' Holiday and Derrick White formed the supporting backcourt, with Porziņģis and Al Horford at center.

  Against three opponents hampered by injuries, the Celtics went 12-2 through the Eastern Conference playoffs. They beat Miami 4-1 in the first round, defeated Cleveland in five games, and swept Indiana in the conference finals. After a soleus strain knocked Porziņģis out in Game 4 against Miami, Boston went 9-1 without him across two rounds.

  At 35 years old, head coach Joe Mazzulla had been appointed only the season before. He was tied with Bill Russell as the youngest coach in league history to reach the Finals. Russell had done so with the Celtics in 1969 as a player-coach. Media analysts and the Celtics players themselves framed the season plainly. A historically dominant year would mean little if it did not end with a championship.

  Boston won both of their regular season meetings with Dallas, finishing 14 games ahead of the Mavericks in the standings.

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• 3. The Catalyst

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  Despite acquiring Kyrie Irving at the February 2023 trade deadline, the Dallas Mavericks finished that season as the 11th seed in the Western Conference. They missed the playoffs entirely. The following offseason, the franchise rebuilt its roster around Irving and Luka Dončić. New arrivals included rookie center Dereck Lively II. He finished the season with a 74.7% field-goal percentage, the highest for a rookie in NBA history. Guards Dante Exum and Derrick Jones Jr. also joined, providing effective defensive and three-point play.

  Through January of 2023-24, Dallas ranked 22nd in defensive rating and 17th in net rating across the league. Both Dončić and Irving missed significant time with injuries. Analysts praised the Irving-Dončić partnership as one of the greatest offensive backcourts ever assembled, but the team hovered barely above .500. Lively played a pivotal role as a rim presence and made the All-Rookie second team. The Mavericks nonetheless lacked the defensive foundation a title run required.

  The catalyst arrived in February 2024. At the trade deadline, Dallas exchanged Grant Williams and Seth Curry for power forward P.J. Washington and also acquired center Daniel Gafford. The two additions immediately reinforced the team's defense. From the 7th of March onward, the Mavericks had the best defensive rating in the league and went 16-4 to close the season. From the 1st of February onward, their 36-15 record was the second best in the league, trailing only Boston. They finished as the fifth seed with a 50-32 record.

  In the playoffs, Dallas knocked out the Los Angeles Clippers in six games. The Clippers had eliminated them in two first-round series in the previous five years. They defeated the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder by overcoming a 16-point halftime deficit in Game 6. After winning the conference finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games, the Mavericks reached their first Finals in 13 years.

  Their 2011 Finals appearance had produced the franchise's only championship. Current head coach Jason Kidd had been the point guard on that team. Irving brought his own complicated history to the series. He had played for the Celtics until 2019 and maintained a strained relationship with their fan base since leaving. His record against Boston since leaving stood at 0-10.

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• 4. Five Games in June

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  Kristaps Porziņģis had not played in a game for 38 days when he walked to the scorer's table in Game 1. Off the bench roughly five minutes into the first quarter, he scored 20 points, pulled six rebounds, and blocked three shots. He became the fourth player in NBA history to score 20 or more points off the bench in a first Finals appearance.

  His eight points in the opening minutes forced Dallas into an early timeout. The Celtics ended the first quarter at 37-20, the biggest first-quarter scoring gap in a Game 1 in Finals history. Boston built a 29-point lead before Luka Dončić staged a solo run. Dončić finished with 30 points and 10 rebounds. The Mavericks shot 25.9% from three-point range and committed 11 turnovers in the first three quarters alone. Boston became the first team to have seven players make multiple three-pointers in a Finals game. The Celtics won 107-89.

  Game 2 saw Jrue Holiday score 26 points with 11 rebounds. Dončić recorded 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists, becoming the first Maverick ever to post a triple-double in the Finals. He also became one of four NBA players to record a triple-double with 30-plus points in a loss. Kyrie Irving, who was booed by the crowd each time he touched the ball, had yet to make a three-pointer in the series. A buzzer-beater from Payton Pritchard near half-court closed the third quarter and extended Boston's lead to nine. The Celtics held on to win 105-98.

  Before Game 3 in Dallas, a moment of silence honored Jerry West, who had died that same day at the age of 86. His silhouette had served as the basis for the NBA logo. Both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown scored 30-plus points. It was only the second time in franchise history that two Celtics players had each done so in a Finals game. The Celtics built a 21-point lead in the fourth quarter. Then Dallas went on a 22-2 run, with Dončić fouling out with 4:12 remaining. Brown hit a mid-range jump shot with one minute left. Sam Quinn of CBS Sports later called it 'the dagger that won that contest for Boston.' The Celtics won 106-99.

  The Mavericks won Game 4 by 122-84, the third largest blowout in Finals history. Dončić scored 25 of his 29 total points in the first half, the most ever by a Maverick in a Finals game by halftime. Dallas led by 26 at the half, the fourth largest halftime margin in Finals history. Tim Hardaway Jr. hit five three-pointers in the fourth quarter alone. He became the third player in history to score five threes in a single Finals quarter. The Celtics scored only 84 total points, their lowest tally of the season.

  Tatum scored a game-high 31 points with 11 assists in Game 5. Payton Pritchard's half-court buzzer-beater at halftime was the longest made field goal in the Finals since at least 1998. Porziņģis checked back in midway through the first quarter, returning from the leg injury that had kept him out of Games 3 and 4. He received a standing ovation and finished with five points in 16 minutes. The Celtics led by as many as 26 points in the third quarter and closed out the series 106-88. They held a 51-35 rebounding advantage and converted 17 of their 20 free throw attempts, shooting 85%, compared to Dallas's 7 of 13.

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• 5. Seven Votes

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  Jayson Tatum averaged 22.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 7.2 assists per game across the five Finals games. Jaylen Brown averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.0 assists. By most statistical measures, Tatum's series was stronger, and he was generally regarded as the better player on the team.

  Seven of the eleven MVP voters chose Brown.

  Brown held the primary assignment of guarding Luka Dončić throughout all five games. Dončić led all players in scoring across the series and also recorded the most steals. Boston's ability to limit the Mavericks' overall attack depended heavily on Brown's defensive work. Brown also made critical shots throughout all five games.

  In Game 5, Brown scored 21 points, pulled eight rebounds, and contributed six assists. Dončić went 2 for 9 from three-point range in that game, missed his first six attempts, and committed seven turnovers.

  Tatum's four votes made clear how close the decision was. When Brown received the trophy, he put it plainly: 'It was a full team effort and I share this with my brothers and my partner in crime Jayson Tatum. He was with me the whole way, so we share this shit together.'

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• 6. After the Parade

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  Al Horford had played 186 playoff games without winning a championship before 2024, a record in NBA history. Only Karl Malone, with 193 career playoff appearances, played more without a title. With the Celtics' victory, Horford finally closed that chapter.

  Horford became the first Dominican-born player to win an NBA championship. Kristaps Porziņģis became the first Latvian-born champion, and Neemias Queta became the first Portuguese-born player to win a title. The victory ended Boston's 16-year drought, the second-longest championship gap in franchise history. The Celtics finished the combined regular season and playoffs with an 80-21 record and a winning percentage of .792, the second highest in franchise history.

  That summer, Jayson Tatum and Derrick White played for the United States men's basketball team. They became part of a short list of players to win both an NBA title and Olympic gold in the same year. Previous members of that list included LeBron James (2012), Scottie Pippen (1992 and 1996), and Michael Jordan (1992). Jrue Holiday had already accomplished the double in 2021 and did it again in 2024. That made Holiday and Pippen the only players to have achieved that combination twice.

  Three days after the series ended, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu announced a victory parade for the 21st of June. The route ran from TD Garden on Causeway Street through City Hall Plaza and along Tremont Street. It ended at Boylston Street near the Hynes Convention Center. The crowd was estimated at over one million people. The MBTA Commuter Rail reported ridership equivalent to five normal weekdays compressed into five or six hours.

  In March 2025, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck sold the franchise to a group led by Bill Chisholm for $6.1 billion. That was the largest sale of an NBA franchise until the Los Angeles Lakers surpassed the mark a few months later.

  Luka Dončić was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis the following season in a widely publicized midseason deal. ESPN's Brian Windhorst had called Dončić's defensive performance in the Finals 'unacceptable' and said it was costing the Mavericks the series. Those criticisms reportedly factored into the organization's eventual decision. The Mavericks missed the playoffs that following season. Against 1.8% draft lottery odds, they won the first overall pick in the 2025 NBA draft and selected Cooper Flagg.

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