The Boston Celtics clinched the NBA Finals with a 106-88 win over the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 at home, and it is the first championship for Celtics star Jayson Tatum, who had an awesome moment on the court with his son, Deuce, as the confetti was falling all around him.
After the game, Jayson Tatum was asked what Deuce said to him when he got to him on the floor, and the answer makes the moment even better.
“He told me that I was the best in the world,” Tatum said, via Michael Scotto of HoopsHype. “I said, ‘You damn right, I am.'”
After many close calls and a lot of criticism for not performing in the playoffs, Tatum and this group of Celtics have climbed the mountaintop for the franchise's 18th championship.
Tatum, along with Jaylen Brown, have been criticized over the past few years, and many were skeptical regarding whether they were capable of winning a championship. Now the answer to that question is an emphatic yes.
The Celtics did not face much trouble against the Mavericks. Tatum had one of his best games of the playoffs, scoring 31 points with 11 assists and eight rebounds. his running mate Jaylen Brown scored 21 and had six assists with eight rebounds as well. It was a well-rounded effort, as Jrue Holiday scored 15 with 11 rebounds, and Derrick White contributed 14 points as well.
Jayson Tatum, Celtics break through with historically dominant season
This year's Celtics were dominant from start to finish. Early on in the regular season, Boston proved how dominant it was, and that continued throughout the year.
The Celtics ended up with a 64-18 regular-season record, finishing 14 games ahead of the second-place team in the Eastern Conference and seven games better than the Oklahoma city Thunder and Denver Nuggets, who finished tied atop the Western Conference at 57-25.
That level of dominance continued in the playoffs as the Celtics lost just three games in their entire playoff run. In the first round, Boston easily defeated the Miami Heat in five games to advance to the second round.
The same was the case in the second round with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Both the Heat and the Cavaliers were banged up, but the Celtics seemed well on their way to winning those series regardless.
In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics faced the Indiana Pacers, and although many of the games were close, they came away with a sweep to advance to the Finals.
As mentioned before, the Celtics did not face much trouble against the Mavericks, only losing Game 4 in blowout fashion. Boston won the series convincingly.
That should not be taken for granted or downplayed because the Mavericks were viewed as the toughest test for the Celtics before the series started, and Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were playing at an incredibly high level coming in.
Instead, the Celtics just kept on doing what they were doing and finished off one of the most dominant seasons in NBA history.
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