This is what they were built to do.
Nearly a full year before the final buzzer sounded in Game 5 of the NBA Finals and confetti filled the TD Garden, Brad Stevens began building a champion by trading Marcus Smart away and acquiring Kristaps Porzingis. Fifty-one weeks and a Jrue Holiday trade later, the Boston Celtics were champions.
“It's a surreal feeling. Still has not really kicked in yet,” said Jayson Tatum as he fidgeted with his “Champions” hat, trying to put the moment into words. “Just trying, I guess, to enjoy the moment. I kept saying, ‘wow.’ These last seven years have been a roller coaster, up and down. I had to listen to (everything) that people said about me, and tonight, it was worth it. Oh, my God.”
There was little question about the outcome of Game 5. Boston used a late first-quarter run to open up a 10-point lead. Another Payton Pritchard buzzer-beater made it 21 points at the half. It was elementary, but not pretty, from there. The Celtics weren’t exactly world-beaters in the third quarter, but the ice-cold Dallas Mavericks could never muster a run to capitalize.
“They're a great team,” Luka Doncic said. “They have been together for a long time, and they had to go through everything, so we just got to look at them, see how they play, maturity, and they have some great players. We can learn from that.”
Game 5 was a nice microcosm of the season for Boston. Tatum and Jaylen Brown ended up accounting for the bulk of the scoring, combining for 51 points and 17 assists. Holiday and Derrick White, Boston’s incredible backcourt, combined for 29 points and 19 rebounds. Boston’s bench had some great moments, including Pritchard’s shot and Sam Hauser hitting some big 3-pointers.
There was the Porzingis performance, which doesn’t look like much in the box score (five points, 2-4 shooting, one rebound) but the fact that he was on the floor at all, stretching the defense and opening up space for his teammates to get to the rim, was among the more amazing stories of the night.
“That was awesome,” Joe Mazzulla said. “It's a huge credit to him. Like I said, I know he's been in and out in the playoffs, but he's worked his ass off to try and get in and play as much as he could.”
Even Porzingis wasn’t sure how he made it on the floor.
“It pretty much hurts on every step,” Porzingis said. “I would take a walk in Dallas, and my leg would swell up.
“I was like, 'I don't know how I'm going to play, if I'm going to play.' But my mindset was always, I'm going to try to find a way how I can manage this.”
He managed 16 important minutes for Boston. Enough for Al Horford to get the rest he needed. Horford, as usual, had an incredibly impactful night, finishing a +20 and earning his first championship ring at 38 years old.
“I'm so grateful,” Horford said. “It's been a lot of years. I don't think it's sunk in yet. I'm going through the emotions right now, but I don't feel like it's over. This is an unbelievable feeling. Yeah, the confetti, everything is going on, but it just hasn't hit me yet.”
It will take a while for all of it to sink in, especially for Brown. For the second straight series, he was shocked to hear his name called as MVP. Brown has played with a chip on his shoulder for a long time, fighting for the recognition he believes he deserves, but has rarely come his way.
“I can't even put into words the emotions,” he said. “It's just I'm blessed and I'm grateful. This was a full team effort. We had a great team. My teammates were great. They allowed me to lead us on both ends of ball, and we just came out and performed on our home floor. It's just amazing. … we did it together as a team, and that was the most important thing.”
Sports are different in Boston. The expectations are high and sometimes unrealistic. Fans and media are tough and sometimes unfair. Phrases like “if you’re not first, you’re last” get thrown around, which inherently trivializes a long journey of incredibly hard work.
But as Mazzulla often says, no one cares.
All that matters in this town is winning, and the Celtics are winners once again. They passed the test, and now they can enter the most exclusive club in sports.
“Coming up short and having failures makes this moment that much better because you know what it feels like to lose,” Tatum said. “And now, to elevate yourself in a space that all your favorite players are in, everybody that they consider greats or legends have won a championship, and all of the guys I looked up to won a championship, multiple championships.
“So now I can, like, walk in those rooms and be a part of that. It's a hell of a feeling. This is more -- I dreamed about what it would be like, but this is 10 times better.”