Celtics End 16-Year NBA Championship Drought with Game 5 Victory; Brown wins Bill Russell Finals MVP

By Albert Harris III

Boston, MA.- Like the story of the entire series, the Boston Celtics win in dominant fashion against the Dallas Mavericks 106 to 88 to clinch an NBA record 18th championship; their first since 2008. Despite an impressive effort in Game 4 to extend the series, the Mavericks managed to come up short in Game 5 even with a 28 point double-double from Luka Doncic.

The Celtics got off to a hot start in the 1st quarter and didn't let up in the 2nd quarter with a staggering 67 points in the 1st half thanks to a combined 31 point effort from the superstar duo in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. The buzzer-beating half-court three from Point Guard Payton Pritchard to end the 1st half all but sealed the fate of the Mavericks as there was no signs of fight throughout the rest of the game.

Tatum, who has been criticized for his underwhelming play despite winning throughout this series, finished with an outstanding 31 points to go with 11 assists and 8 rebounds. Brown finished with an effective 21 pts, 8 rebounds and 6 assist which secured his Finals MVP. This is a much deserved award for Brown given his exceptional NBA Finals run averaging 20.8 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 5 APG and being a vital X-Factor for the Celtics.

With the Mavericks, Kyrie Irving has been the underwhelming player in this series for them and more specifically at Boston as he averages an abysmal 14 PPG on 34% FG shooting at TD Garden. When the Mavs and Luka needed the Former NBA Champion, he failed to come through at the biggest stage once again in Game 5 with 15 points on 31.3% FG shooting. While Luka was an offensive weapon for the Mavericks, his lack of defense is what also came under scrutiny in the Finals and him fouling out in Game 3 also has a huge part to play in the momentum switching and ultimately them leaving TD Gardens Arena empty-handed.

While much credit goes to Tatum and Brown for the championship, a majority of the success should go to Former GM Danny Ainge and Current GM Brad Stevens who helped orchestrated pivotal trades throughout their respective tenures to surround their franchise superstar tandem with pieces such as Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday; all of whom were extremely critical for not this championship run but their entire season. The constant playoff shortcomings of one of the NBA's most beloved franchises ended tonight and is something that all of Titletown, Massachusetts will be celebrating tonight.