basketball
Celtics reach their goal: NBA record champions with 18 titles
The Celtics, including stars like Jaylen Brown (M), are now celebrating their first championship since 2008. Photo
© Charles Krupa/AP
Boston Celtics fans have been waiting for this moment for years: Title number 18 is perfect and the team is once again the NBA’s record champions. The Mavericks, led by Maxi Kleber, are disappointing.
The Mavericks, including Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Maxi Kleber from Würzburg, have to wait a little longer for their second championship – the only one so far in 2011 was won by Dirk Nowitzki, who was the team’s leader.
“Oh my God. It’s a surreal feeling. We did it,” Celtics pro Jayson Tatum said on US television and then yelled in the live interview with confetti on his shoulders: “We did it. Oh my God. I have no words, I’m sorry.”
Hope for Mavericks comeback died
In Dallas, the Mavericks won by 38 points on Friday, keeping fans’ hopes of a sensational comeback alive – after three defeats in the first three games, no NBA team has ever achieved that.
But in the TD Garden, the Celtics made it clear from the start that they would not allow themselves a second slip-up. In the last two minutes of the first quarter, Boston caused excitement in the stands with a 12-3 run, and by halftime, the lead was 21 points.
Tatum: We owed that to our fans
“We responded well all year. We owed that to our fans. It’s been a long journey. A long journey. We’re a resilient group, we’ve been through a lot in the past few years,” Tatum said. In the second half, the Celtics were able to maintain their lead because the Mavericks never really posed a threat.
Doncic ended up with a solid 28 points, but was just as disappointing for much of the game as Irving, who only managed 15 points. Both of them only made one three-pointer out of seven attempts until well into the final quarter, with three for Irving and two for Doncic. Tatum was the Celtics’ best scorer with 31 points. That was enough for his first championship and the first for Boston since 2008.