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00:00A new NBA champion has been crowned in the 2023-24 NBA campaign, but maybe new is not
00:07the correct word to use for the Boston Celtics. Championship number 18 secured last night,
00:14the most ever in the history of the National Basketball Association, with a 106-88 decisive
00:21victory in game number five. Boston closed as a seven-point favorite. They easily cover the
00:27number. Total closed at an over-under of 210 and a hook, and it stays under. All five games in a
00:34short NBA championship set stay under their pre-game number, the Boston Celtics. Championship
00:42number 18, and for this core, led by Jalen Brown and Jason Tatum, the two guys to get selected
00:49number three overall. Brown in 2016, Tatum in 2017. They finally lead Boston to the top of
00:56the mountaintop once again, an NBA champion for the first time since 2008. And a completely
01:03deserving champion. You had great basketball players, a great coach, a great winning environment.
01:09You took care of your business on home court. You dominated the NBA in the regular season. You
01:12dominated the NBA in the postseason. This was a complete a team as you are going to find all the
01:17way through, and as we say, they're probably not done yet. We got a pretty good poll out there on
01:21the SportsGrid network here this morning on to fade the public if they are actually going to be
01:25able to repeat and who's going to stop them right now. They have the money. They have the young
01:29talent here at this point, but if we focus on game number five in itself, this is probably
01:33what we expected. And also I talked about this yesterday being a handicapper. Some of the things
01:37that are really hard to quantify or was that game an actual fluke or my eyes deceiving me because
01:42the Dallas Mavericks really took apart the Boston Celtics and you figured maybe they could get some
01:47momentum going on the road, but that certainly wasn't the case. We expected Kyrie to step up.
01:51He didn't feel like doing that in Boston. It was almost like I feel so bad the way I treated
01:55Boston when I was there. I'm just going to hand them an NBA championship. It's really the way
01:59five of 16 from the floor 41 minutes minus 11 on the court. Only 15 points when we were saying like,
02:04hey, Kyrie got that mojo in game three and game four, but he's like, you know what?
02:08Going back to Boston. I don't feel like I need that same mojo. I also said yesterday. The one
02:13guy I knew that was going to have a high usage rate was going to be look at Dodgers 12 of 25
02:17from the floor 43 minutes out there 12 rebounds and five assists. It wasn't good enough. Why?
02:22Because once again, he didn't get the support from his teammates that he needed. Unlike the
02:26Boston Celtics who were tremendous on defense yesterday. And what did I tell you? I didn't
02:30know if I liked the side. We thought the Boston Celtics would win. I like the under a lot more
02:34than the side and they played unbelievable defense, you know, right away 18 points in that
02:38first quarter. The Boston Celtics been meant business yesterday and that business was a
02:42championship. Absolutely. So and Donnie, we said all along in the quick preview of this series and
02:49it wasn't exactly quick as we had a full week off from when the Mavericks won the Western Conference
02:54crown 10 days from when Boston won the Eastern Conference crown until the start of this NBA
03:01finals that the Dallas dynamic duo of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving specifically Luka Doncic being
03:07the best player in this series so far had to outweigh Jason Tatum and Jalen Brown that
03:13Boston's better balance in depth could not make up the margin never really happened in this series
03:19and you look up and down the stat sheet yesterday drew holiday 15 points 11 boards the best plus
03:25minus a plus 21 for the Celtics great on the defensive end of the floor Derek White chipped
03:31a tooth and made four triples as he did consistently throughout this NBA championship
03:37series we even saw Christophe Porzingis battle through the torn retinaculum to play in game
03:44number five and Peyton Pritchard the king of half-court buzzer beaters did so again sending
03:50the game to a 20 point lead for the Celtics into that halftime break Boston was the best team all
03:57year long and they get the crowning achievement of championship number 18 the most ever in NBA
04:04history but it's been a long time in Beantown since the Celtics were the NBA champs since 2008
04:10yesterday was June 17th 2024 the Celtics last championship back in 08 June 17th 2008 a big day
04:20in Massachusetts and the Boston Celtics Donnie cover as a seven point home favorite at home this
04:28year 52 games inside T.D. Gordon make that 46 and six straight up for Boston 28 21 and three
04:38against the spread booked as the favorite side in all 52 home games this season it is amazing too
04:45because you're supposed to be playing under the same guidelines in the NBA and professional sports
04:49salary cabs draft picks you have to operate in those parameters and it's amazing to me to find
04:53out like the one thing we talked about the Dallas Mavericks for the past what two years boy if we
04:57can just get somebody who can run with Luca that team should be okay they go and get Kyrie Irving
05:01which is great so you have two superstars at the top of your lineup but we still kept asking those
05:05questions if the two superstars aren't running right or at least one of them isn't who can step
05:10up we never really had that opinion and maybe it's unfair to say that about the Dallas Mavericks is
05:14why they made it to the NBA finals that's an achievement in itself when we talk about roster
05:18construction and how to put a team together like look at the Celtics two superstars in Tatum and
05:23Brown you have a bona fide floor general in Drew Holiday that plays defensive does the nasty stuff
05:28but still the ability to shoot 14 times make seven of those attempts and get 11 rebounds and then oh
05:33yeah there's that guy Chris Stapps Porzingis that you picked up as well another all-star caliber
05:37player to go along with a solid bench of guys that can shoot coming up there at any moment here as we
05:42saw with Hauser and Pritchett throughout this playoff run so congratulations to the Boston
05:46Celtics front office they didn't just get lucky with draft picks here the construction of this
05:49roster and bringing guys in even though they weren't drafted by your own team and fitting them
05:54in that's unbelievable man so Porzingis and Holiday unbelievable additions here much much
05:59better than probably would have turned out with Marcus Smart who I know was a fan favorite in
06:02Boston so credit Brad Stevens that organization it's tremendous man and they put together this
06:08organization this roster constructed to reach this level of success co-favorites before the NBA
06:16season after the acquisition of Chris Stapps Porzingis to win an NBA title pretty quickly into
06:21the year after Milwaukee suffered its struggles even though they weren't so much struggles but
06:26just a turbulent opening half the Celtics were a solo favorite at a short plus 260 price by the
06:32time we reached the all-star break in the middle of February when the playoffs began they were
06:37nearing even money by the end of the opening round into minus money and entered the NBA finals the
06:43BRS is a minus 225 series outright favorite what was expected now made official the Boston Celtics
06:50the NBA champs yes and no doubt about it either and that's what we're talking about it was so much
06:55fun to watch Boston throughout the season because the expectations were so high Ben and what did
06:59they do they just kept delivering on those expectations and I love the fact that they
07:04really handled the Dallas Mavericks in the finals because then we can't say like oh well see they
07:07finally met a good team here and they couldn't handle it they wiped the Mavericks off of the
07:11court man one of the better seasons you're going to see the Boston Celtics 2023-2024.
07:17We'll continue to talk about where the Celtics fall in NBA history next the most championships
07:23in NBA history the Boston Celtics as a franchise make that number 18 last night inside TD Garden
07:31in front of the bean town faithful they move in front of their long time historic rivals
07:37the LA Lakers who have 17 the Golden State Warriors seven the Chicago Bulls have six in
07:44the San Antonio Spurs with five the Boston Celtics the most ever in the history of the association
07:51but this the first since 2008 only two in this millennium for the seas but they accomplished
07:59that feat that had long alluded them and this core last night and it's not just the most NBA
08:05titles in history for any franchise this year's 2023-2024 Celtics organization will be remembered
08:14in historic fashion 16 and 3 in 19 playoff games for this year's group of C's that is the 10th
08:23best win percentage all time in NBA playoff history the second team since we went fully to
08:29a best of seven that means 16 wins in an NBA playoff in the 2002-03 season only the Golden
08:37State Warriors who went 16 and 1 during the 2017 postseason have a better mark than this year's
08:44Boston Celtics team history in many ways last night inside TD Garden yes there was and also
08:52like sometimes you have to take these championships with a grain of salt when you see the total amount
08:56of those because a lot of those happened in the past but having said that about the Celtics
08:59organization itself like there's been dregs of the NBA with teams that just have stunk out loud
09:05been for 50 straight years it feels like the Celtics were never that organization I was like
09:09boy they had a terrible seven-year run with at the bottom of the Eastern Conference or the Atlantic
09:13Conference that's never been the case they've always been a competitive franchise and if you
09:17want to look at those superstar championship laden teams in the 60s the Larry Bird era in the 80s
09:22and then moving through into the 90s I know there wasn't a lot of success championship wise but into
09:26the 2000s with the KG teams and all that stuff and now leading up to this team that's won a
09:31championship it's been a great organization for a long long time and rightfully so 18 championships
09:37in their history and also let's remind ourselves it's not as if like these 18 championships
09:41actually date back to the night early 1900s like let's just say Major League Baseball it's been
09:46fairly new but this has always been a competitive franchise with superstar players all throughout
09:50and deservedly so 18 now ahead of 17 for the Los Angeles Lakers in that great rivalry
09:56and just two for Boston since 1986 but they had been close this year was their third consecutive
10:04appearance in the Eastern Conference Finals the Celtics had made the ECF four of the last five
10:09years into the NBA Finals twice in the past three seasons came up lame in only six games against
10:15Golden State two years ago but now to the top of the NBA as a champion and our debate after it
10:23became pretty clear with Boston holding a 3-0 series advantage that the Celtics were going to
10:29win number 18 at a certain point in this series was who's going to win NBA Finals MVP entering
10:36game number three in Dallas last week Jason Tatum was the favorite Tatum was the favorite entering
10:42the series but after last night despite Tatum scoring 31 points and being game five's leading
10:49scorer only finishing just a few assists away or a few boards away from a triple double Jalen Brown
10:57who scored 21 points in game number five the NBA Finals MVP I know it's not all decided by the fifth
11:05and final game I'm still trying to find in this series where Jalen Brown was so far ahead of Jason
11:12Tatum to be the odds-on favorite to win the NBA Finals MVP entering last night's game five and by
11:18the way like midway through the game multiple sites out there which included the FanDuel Sportsbook
11:22had a heavy favorite price on Jason Tatum and rightfully so because if you're telling me the
11:28best player on the team it is Jason Tatum we know that he has a better you know more points more
11:33assists and rebound average in the series in the pivotal closeout game he was the best player on
11:39the court and he didn't win the MVP and also I might not have even had a problem with this man if
11:44we were heading in to this finals game game number five and you said hey look at this the FanDuel
11:48Sportsbook plus 100 Jalen Brown plus 110 on Tatum oh this is going to be close all the way through
11:53let me see the way it plays out but the fact that we kept looking at who is the such a heavy favorite
11:58in Brown I just couldn't figure it out said you know what it might just come down to tonight who
12:02Tatum was the better player and you're right almost had a 30 point triple double and still
12:06didn't win the MVP I don't know who's voting on it I don't know what they saw and I don't know why
12:10he was such a heavy favorite but there you go heavy favorite end up winning it even though
12:14I don't think he should have won it Tatum was atrocious in both the first two games at Boston
12:19there is no mincing words he was 12 of 38 from the floor that's 31.5 percent from the field when you
12:26are the superstar when you want to be considered one of the five or ten best players in the NBA
12:31that cannot be your performance but still in the final three games Tatum found his stroke we'll
12:37talk about it up next as we continue our reaction to the NBA final there is no debate who the NBA's
12:43best team was this year that was the Boston Celtics 64 and 18 throughout the regular season
12:50a 16 and 3 postseason mark the 10th best win percentage in the history of the NBA playoffs
12:5780 wins in total for the Boston Celtics becoming just the 13th team in the history of the association
13:04to post at least 80 wins regular season plus playoffs combined in NBA history but what is
13:12the debate at least that we will have here who should have won NBA finals MVP does it really
13:18matter matter Jason Tatum screamed we did it so he was just happy they won a championship
13:24last night in Boston but Jalen Brown who won the Eastern Conference finals MVP hardware
13:30also taking home the NBA finals MVP award as well and Jalen Brown was good and consistent throughout
13:38the NBA finals he scored at least 20 points in four of the five games all three in Boston
13:46where in the first two games of the series Jason Tatum fell flat for the Celtics 31.5 percent from
13:53the four in games one and two but on the crowning night inside TD Garden bringing home the crowning
13:59achievement of championship number 18 Tatum was Boston's best player the best player on the floor
14:0631 points 11 dimes eight boards just two rebounds shy of a triple double but fell short of winning
14:13finals MVP yeah it was an interesting you know way all the way around because I understand how
14:19the locker room dynamics work and those two guys are very competitive and they were so competitive
14:23over the past two to three years we were led to believe that they can't play with each other
14:27because they're so competitive at that point and that competitiveness turned into a championship
14:31but it is kind of interesting and you know in those quiet moments which we won't see on camera
14:35where they're working out like Jalen Brown just has that one up on them now Eastern Conference
14:40finals MVP NBA finals MVP you know you couldn't have done this without me I was the star catalyst
14:45like just prodding like one of your friends which you know they will do but having said that they
14:49were both equally deserving and the ultimate prize is the championship you put that ring on your
14:54finger it solidifies it nobody's gonna look at the Boston Celtics and say anything less of well
14:58they probably could trade away Jason Tatum and still be fine no he is your best basketball player
15:02and we understand that but it's just odd the way it worked out where I just thought all the way
15:06through those games like three four and five I understand the competitive nature between the two
15:11and I thought Jason Tatum would rise to the occasion and he did it's just really hard to
15:15quantify like I know in a quiet space here Tatum's going to love winning that championship
15:18smoking the cigars going to the parade the duck floats and all the champagne that's going to be
15:22flawed but deep down he's got to be asking that question look I understand I didn't play well in
15:26games one and two but I averaged more points assist and rebounds and in the closeout game
15:31was the dominant figure and I didn't win this what do I have to do to actually win this and
15:35again on the grand scale things it's not that big of a deal but us as handicappers just watching
15:40that price point and scratching our head and I guess there was something to those price points
15:44there two great players equally deserving of MVP I was just surprised that it didn't go to Tatum
15:49because we look at statistics here and we look at what we just saw last year and Tatum was tremendous
15:55and Jalen Brown was great in game one he was Boston's leading scorer but Kristaps Porzingis
16:01was probably the finals MVP of that game Drew Holiday was probably the MVP of game number two
16:07so it really was a toss-up from that point on I could understand the argument for Jalen Brown in
16:13the Eastern Conference Finals despite Tatum figuring things out in the final two games
16:18against Indiana Brown had the defensive play at the end of game one hit the corner three to force
16:23overtime against the Pacers there were those magical moments not as many of them throughout
16:28the NBA Finals and again maybe we're splitting hairs maybe if you ask those two who have been
16:34together since 2017 Brown drafted third overall in 2016 Tatum the following year number three
16:41overall as well they have been the core of this franchise in Beantown they would tell you it
16:47doesn't really matter we won the Larry O'Brien trophy that we will be judged and evaluated
16:52by just an interesting distinction overall in an NBA Finals that really did not have many debates
17:00we are getting word because a new rule in the association that as soon as the NBA Finals in
17:05a season comes to a close you can start contract negotiations with guys currently on your roster
17:12that Jason Tatum is expected to sign a five-year 315 million dollar contract at 63 million dollars
17:21annually that would be the richest in NBA history moving past Jalen Brown who signed that five-year
17:28304 million dollar extension that actually averages out to a little bit less over the
17:33entire duration of that contract extension so Jason Tatum a little bit more moolah in the bank
17:39account maybe than hardware that Jalen Brown possesses yeah by the way nobody's going to feel
17:44bad for Rick Rosbach who's the owner of the Boston Celtics but when you do that Forbes check-in list
17:49here he's bottom five in the NBA for a net worth now granted when your net worth is still north of
17:53500 million dollars nobody feels bad for you but as you just pointed out you got two players on
17:58your roster with 300 million dollar contracts and let's not forget the big money that your holiday
18:03gets and Chris Epps or Zingas and so forth on that roster so maybe roster management construction
18:08might catch up to the Celtics maybe later but next year they'll be all in the following year as well
18:13but we're seeing the advent of all that new money splashed into the NBA CBA and the Celtics right
18:19now they're superstar players certainly reaping the benefits of that and for this series again it
18:25might seem like it was a broad set approach or the main narrative entering the NBA finals but
18:31could the best player in the series that's Dallas's Luka Doncic outweigh everything that Jalen Brown
18:37Jason Tatum as a pair in the rest of Boston's balance and depth would bring in a hunt for a
18:43Larry O'Brien trophy the answer unanimously almost no despite game number four the Celtics still
18:51making easy work of the Mavs in only five games and Luka Doncic was really good 28 points last
18:58night 12 rebounds but only two of nine from three Luka scored at least 27 points in all five games
19:06of this series his points prop last night 32 and a hook he stayed under though in all five games
19:12and will the lasting image of Luka Doncic be game number three when his Mavericks team
19:17was making the ferocious comeback from being down by as many as 21 early in the fourth and final
19:22quarter fouling out with over four minutes remaining making stupid play after stupid play
19:28and the frustration that overwhelmed and the arguing with the officials I don't think so he's
19:33still one of the five best players in the association but did come up short and not all
19:38his ultimate blame he got very little help throughout this series Kyrie Irving combined
19:43for 43 points in three total games in Boston in game three he scored 35 at home in Dallas it's
19:52like Kyrie Irving on the floor for Celtics championship number 18 did for Boston what he
19:58could never do while a member of the Celtics yeah by the way 26 what is that 20 or 29 6 and 9 is
20:06what Luka Doncic's average and the funny part about all the way through Ben when we're talking about
20:10the Mavericks if they can win the series or win basketball games the handicap was the same for me
20:14every night oh Dallas needs to win while Luka's got to get 40 otherwise they have no chance that's
20:18not really a good recipe because as we knew coming into the NBA finals the deepest team maybe the NBA
20:23is the Boston Celtics superstar wise great bench great coach you get that here we weren't saying
20:27coming into the finals well Tate better get 35 and Brown better get 30 they have no chance nobody
20:32said that they won games with those guys underperforming here why because they had other
20:35guys that could step up like Porzingis and Holiday showed up during the series so they will
20:40retool that roster Dallas isn't going anywhere Luka Doncic is going to be an MVP threat for the
20:44next 10 years here so I wouldn't worry too much about them but they just need to get that hey
20:48Luka had an off night and scored 17 that's okay four other guys stepped up they just don't have
20:54that yet but I'll say this last year's bench not nearly as good as this year's bench on the Mavericks
20:59maybe they can improve it even going into next year as well right there's some promise there
21:04with Derek Lively who had a great rookie season and a strong performance in these NBA playoffs
21:09but I don't really want to hear that despite Boston's cakewalk through the Eastern Conference
21:14which I will allow that Dallas wasn't the best team out of the West the Mavericks beat the Clippers
21:20the Thunder and the Timberwolves to win the Western Conference and cash that 13-1 ticket
21:25the seventh best price on Dallas to win the Western Conference crown before the year got underway sure
21:31the Denver Nuggets were not there at the end to be on the other side to give the Celtics that
21:36ultimate test as the reigning NBA champs but Dallas earned its way to the NBA Championship Series
21:43through winning the Western Conference so that's where things stand this year in the NBA campaign
21:51we'll already look at next year later in our show to see if the Celtics can now maybe go back to back