The blocked out the noise, ignored the doubters and erased a couple of years of bitter disappointment to once again stand atop the NBA globe. A 106-88 victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night gave the Celtics a 4-1 series win in the and this group vindication after repeatedly falling just short. With a sublime all-star duo of and and a rotating group of accomplished supporters, the Celtics broke through for the franchise’s first title since 2008 and should silent now the naysayers who thought the team just lack the special character possessed by all champions.
And after losing to the Golden State Warriors and being summarily dispensed by the upstart Miami Heat in the 2023 Eastern Conference final, concerns that the group had that that champions have gained legitimacy. No more. The Celtics fashioned a 64-18 regular season record — outdistancing every other team in the league by at least seven games — and their playoff run was unfathomable.
They eliminated Miami in five games in the first round, knocked out Cleveland by the same mark in the conference semifinals. They swept Indiana in a tougher-than-that conference final and, outside of a Game 4 outlier against Dallas in the championship series, weren’t really extended by the Mavericks in the NBA Finals. For one of the most storied franchises in league history the championship was No.
18 all time and the first since 2008. This club might not be up there with the all-time Boston franchises yet but at least they .
