2024: The Celtics, Luca Watz, and the young people around the world

Season 2023-24, the 18th championship in the team history of the NBA legendary giant Boston Celtics. Jaylen Brown experienced the seventh Eastern Conference Finals, Jayson Tatum experienced the sixth Eastern Conference Finals, and finally achieved a good result. Jaylen Brown also became the first finals MVP born after 1995.

This is the first time since 2006, there was no one in LeBron, Durant, Curry and Leonard in the divisional semi-finals.

This is the victory of a group of American post-90s players. There are talented people in the generation of generations to replace old people. But at the same time: this year, Slovenian Doncic became the first European scoring champion in history, Serbian Jokic won the third regular season MVP, Frenchman Gobert won the fourth annual defensive player, plus Lithuanian rebounding king Sabonis Jr., and French blocked rookie Vinban Yama.

NBA's big space era, unprecedented internationalization. The opponents of the 2024 Finals Celtics and Mavericks are the most active teams in the NBA to shoot three-pointers. The aces of both teams, Tatum and Doncic, both scored, rebounded and assisted in the playoffs, led the teams:

Just like in the 2023 playoffs, Jokic also led the teams in three statistics: in the era of big space, the core of each team is becoming more comprehensive and swaying.

Nine years ago, when Curry and LeBron were just facing each other in the finals, the three-point shooting momentum was in full swing, and LeBron's all-inclusive ball-holding core is still quite rare; by 2024, young teams have become accustomed to the wide-area long-range shooting wave and superstar ball-holding domination. The era of Qiyong has gone far away, but the wave of their duels continues to affect 2024:

This is the most friendly era for offensive geniuses in NBA history.

One month after the 2023 Finals, the Celtics, who lost to the 76ers to miss the finals, renewed Jaylen Brown with a five-year, big contract of 304 million: even though he just made 8 of 23 shots and 8 turnovers. This is the tone of the Celtics next season: they still believe in the team of Twins Tatum and Brown.

In the offseason, the Celtics made a big fuss: they sent away the 2022 defensive player Smart and got the Wizards giant Poggins; they sent away Brogden and Robert Williams, and got the 2021 Bucks champion guard Ju Holiday.

On Poggins, they received a 221 cm basket protection unicorn; on Holiday, they received a veteran defender who completed the Black Eight with Philadelphia in 2012 and won the Bucks in 2021.

and, the previous season, Smart and Grant Williams both made slight remarks about Coach Mazula. Manager Stevens traded them away, undoubtedly expressing his support for Coach Mazula.

2023-24 season, coach Mazula never returned to the double inside lineup of coach Uduka two years ago, insisting on the double defender of Holiday and White, Jaylen Brown and Jason Tatum, and the single center team.

The entire 2023-24 season, the Celtics led the NBA with an astonishing average of 42.5 three-pointers, ranking third in the entire NBA history.

The Twins are the two wings of the Celtics taking off, while Derek White and Holiday guards maintain the stability of the Celtics. At the end of the season, both of them were elected as the NBA's second defensive lineup of the year, without sticking to the ball on the offensive end, quick instigation, and shooting open baskets.

The Celtics did not lose three consecutive times throughout the season. After losing streak to the Hawks at the end of the season, the Celtics defeated the Pelicans and once again avoided three consecutive losses. In that game, Poggins scored 19 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. In the third quarter, Zion of the Pelicans was misplaced by White to miss 5 shots. After the game that day, Poggins mentioned the Celtics' team business card. He summarized the Celtics' style of playing, "take away the opponent's three-pointer and force the opponent to the basket": and the person waiting for the opponent at the basket was naturally Poggins.

This is the Celtics who won 64 in the regular season in 2023-24. Their purpose can be summarized as: not allow the opponent to shoot three-pointers and shoot more three-pointers than the opponent.

With this, they are second in the NBA to score.

And the total score of the season was the younger and more enthusiastic Indiana Pacers than the Celtics.

2023-24 season, the Indiana Pacers won the runner-up in the midseason championship that had been brewing for a long time: they only lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. The young Tyreth Halliburton became famous in this series of battles. The Pacers demonstrate an extremely cutting-edge, almost game-like style. Pacers coach Carlisle praised Halliburton with Jason Kidd-style field control ability and can power players like Steve Nash.

Halliburton admitted that he was asked by his father, Old John, to become a "player like a magician" since he was a child, and he sprinted all over the game without knowing the stop. Halliburton said that many of his playing ideas were learned from the NBA 2K series of games. He plays 2K and likes to use camera mode, straight up and down: he says that playing basketball is like playing games, and he always finds where his teammates are as soon as possible.

Halliburton's pushing pace is so fast that the Pacers' home commentator once described: the opponent dares not celebrate after scoring, because you are celebrating, Halliburton has already scored against you behind the scenes. This speed is not just about making the Pacers easy to score. The Pacers' Topin said that when you keep receiving Haliburton's passes and blend into the game, you will feel that you are needed, so you will work harder to attack and defend instead of bored "stand at the bottom corner and wait for the pass."

In the summer of 2013, Popovich asked the Spurs to complete the processing of the ball in 0.5 seconds, and relied on this quick pass and cut to revenge the Miami Heat in the 2014 Finals; Coach Popovich's old opponent, Coach Carlisle, took it a step further. He described his idea of ​​leading the Pacers, saying that this era is about to be fast..

"When the opponent doesn't know how you fight next, it's difficult to guard you; when you don't know how to fight next, the opponent doesn't know how to guard you."

So Tyres Halliburton became the NBA's assist king in the 2023-24 season. Speed, space, three-pointers, this is the trend of the NBA in 2024.

The young speed is reflected in the West as the third fastest Dallas Mavericks in the West, and the fourth fastest Oscar Thunder: they have the scoring champion of that year, the young Luca Doncic, and Alexander, who averages third in the game and second in the regular season MVP votes.

One was born in 1999 and the other was born in 1998, but their styles were very different.

Luca Doncic is the standard core of ball holding. He can't run fast and jump high, but he has the top NBA vision, balance, feel, pace and cunning. In 2020 and 2021, he has given the Clippers a headache in the first round; in 2022, he even defeated the Mavericks and reversed the Suns, the No. 1 in the regular season league.

2023-24 season, he was the NBA's scoring leader, scoring 478 free throws in the fourth most in the NBA and scoring 284 three-pointers in the second most in the NBA. Three-pointers, basket, breakthrough pass, NBA's ultimate ball-holding engine.

Shay Alexander was restrained and quiet. His college coach Calipari once described his style as "self-discipline" and "playing for victory only". "When you don't play professional basketball, you are a professional player." He relies on the balanced dribble with his left and right hands, starting with pace, change direction, and low center of gravity. He is good at breaking through his opponents with rhythm, angle and time difference, and with one-handed detachment and mid-range shot.

2023-24 season, the Thunder represents the new style of the NBA: Dortmund, the shortest starting player, is the most solid, and serves as the team's leader and defender; Chet, the highest player, is the thinnest, protecting the team's basket; Jaylen Williams can play two positions with extremely large spans, the second highest starting player, Gidey is the team's best passer.

The defense of the Russian City Thunder focuses on one-sided compression of space and cutting the opponent's passes, so their ability to make mistakes is the first in the NBA. In addition to the third in the NBA, Alexander is also the NBA's total steal king in the 2023-24 season; and this defense foundation is their rookie, the tall and slender Chet Holmgren.

This second place winner in 2022 and the No. 2 pick in 2023 and the Spurs, seem to be born as an opponent. Both of them are over seven feet tall, with the top NBA's basket protection ability, and can create threats at the three-point line and basket on the offensive end. In the 2023-24 season, they met more than once. Two young men with more than 216 cm were shot three-pointers, shot fake moves, broke through the basket, ran through the whole game in one stop, and started from the three-point line and dunked.

At the end of the season, Wenban Yama will lead the NBA with 254 blocks, and the rookie will win the block king; while Chett will block the second in the NBA with 190 blocks. Chett defends the bottom, Alexander leads the offense, and the team is young and fast. This is the Thunder, who is the first in the regular season in the Western Conference in the 2023-24 season.

Of course, similar cases of Giants + Genius are more than this group:

In the first half of the 2023-24 season, the Minnesota Timberwolves were the first to lead the NBA.

Previously, in the summer of 2022, the three-time defensive player of the year, French giant Rudy Gobert went to the Minnesota Timberwolves. In the 2023-24 season, the team is finally healthy and complete. Coach Finch of the Timberwolves took a clever countermeasure: Gobert and Towns started in the double towers, Gobert played against the opponent's worst three-pointer player and swam part-time; plus McDaniels on the wing and Reed, the sixth-man defense expert, the Timberwolves' defense leads the NBA. On the offensive end, the 2020 No. 1 pick Anthony Edwards relied on his talent to play an outstanding offensive season. The Timberwolves finally finished the regular season with the second-place 56 win in the team history and swept the Phoenix Suns 4-0 in the first round of the playoffs.

In the first battle, Edwards paid tribute to his idol Kevin Durant. When Durant scored 10 points in a row in the third quarter, Edwards turned around and attacked Durant and scored repeatedly, even made strong shots in front of Durant, and finally led the team to win 125-100. After the game, Edwards said:

"I just want to show that we are the more thirsty team... Everyone knows that my favorite player is Durant."

Durant's Suns were eliminated by the Timberwolves, while LeBron's Lakers were eliminated by the Denver Nuggets for the second consecutive year. In addition to the Golden State Warriors who missed the playoffs and Leonard who was injured in the playoffs, this is the first time since 2006: after the first round of the NBA, LeBron, Durant, Curry and Leonard have disappeared.

From 2019 to 24, Giannis, Embiid and Jokic, who dominate the regular season MVP, were also eliminated early in the 2024 playoffs: Giannis was injured, and the Bucks were eliminated in the first round of the second consecutive year; Embiid was injured, missing most of the regular season, and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

And defending champions Denver Nuggets, and Jokic, will face the Minnesota Timberwolves and the young and thirsty Edwards in the second round of the playoffs, and lose the first game 99-106.

In that game, the Timberwolves led 18-4, and Edwards scored 13 points. The Nuggets raised their true colors in the championship and also surpassed 21-3 at the end of the first quarter, and even surpassed 35-30, but they were led by Edwards. The Timberwolves scored 40 points in the first half and Edwards scored 25 points. In the third quarter, the Nuggets once led the way, and Edwards took the world with one arm and reversed. Edwards and sixth man of the year ended the Nuggets in one breath. Edwards scored 43 points in the game. He relies on fast movements at low center of gravity, first step of lightning and strong shots, making the Nuggets unstoppable.

After the game, coach Nuggets Malone praised Edwards, "He has no weaknesses in his playing style, and it is a huge challenge to stop him."

But what is more amazing than Edwards' offense is the Timberwolves' defense.. After the Nuggets eliminated the Lakers, LeBron James said that the Nuggets' offense was perfect. But the Timberwolves curbed the Nuggets: they used the team's No. 4 position Towns single-down defender Jokic, No. 5 position Gobert to the bottom, and took away the Nuggets' basket attack; they also used Edwards, McDaniels and Walker to take turns to entangle the Nuggets' ball-holding ace Murray.

The Timberwolves won 106-80 in the second game. In the middle of the fourth quarter, Edwards made a three-pointer and proudly shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands. He scored 27 points in this game, and the Timberwolves' strategy was the source of victory: they let Aaron Gordon out of the way, and used Li Kyle and Reed to take turns against Jokic, which finally forced Jokic and Murray to make 8 of 31 shots together to score only 24 points.

In the third game, the Nuggets began to attack Edwards, and Jokic led the team and won 117-90.

In the fourth game, Edwards scored 44 points, but made 14 of 21 shots in the first three quarters, and scored only 8 points in 2 of 4 shots in the fourth quarter. In turn, Jokic made 6 of 10 shots in the fourth quarter. The Nuggets won 115-107 and tied the Timberwolves 2-2.

The Nuggets adopted the defense of expanding defense against the ball holder + filling up the basket, and released McDan and Gobert in time, and replaced Towns with a large number of defense, asking him to play behind his back. In Barkley's statement, "Whether the Timberwolves can advance depends on how stable or unstable Towns is." In the fifth game, Jokic took over the MVP trophy and then faced the strongest defense in the league, facing four defense players of the year Gobert, with 40 points, 13 assists and 0 turnovers. The Nuggets took the lead 3-2.

In the first quarter, Jokic scored 12 points from the team's 24 points; in the second quarter, when the Timberwolves took over, Jokic took over and scored 19 points and 8 assists in the first half. In the third quarter, Jokic scored 16 points in 6 minutes. In the fourth quarter, Jokic scored a 40th three-pointer from the top of the arc to lock in the game. On the day of his third regular season MVP awards, facing the league's strongest defense and four defender of the year, he scored 35 points in three quarters, with 40 points, 13 assists and 0 mistakes in the game. The second single game in NBA playoff history was 40 points, 10 assists and 0 turnovers - the last one was Paul in 2018. After the game, Jokic said, "We played excellent team basketball."

However, the Nuggets' Road ends here. In the sixth game, the Timberwolves' double tower defense completed a big victory with a 115-70 victory, catching up to 3-3.

Game 7, because Murray scored 24 points in the first half, the Timberwolves fell 15 points in the first half, and then completed the seventh biggest reversal in NBA history in the second half, winning 98-90.

Edwards repeatedly found his teammates when he was attacked in the third quarter, and made many defenses and turns to offense, using a horizontal jump to buzzer-beating three-pointer, overtaking to 67-66.

Jokic scored two three-pointers, but Gobert made a magical Dirk backwards. Jokic, who had exhausted physical strength in the sixth man of the year, made a layup after breaking through. Jokic scored 34 points, 19 rebounds and 7 assists, but in the end he ran out of physical fitness. This is the fifth consecutive year, and the defending champion will not be able to reach the division final the following year.

This is May 19, 2024, on this day, Kevin Garnett's 28th birthday, played his best career game against the Kings in the seventh game against the Kings, with 32 points, 21 rebounds, 4 steals and 5 blocks, and led the Timberwolves to advance to the Western Conference Finals.

Twenty years later, the Timberwolves won the seventh game and advanced to the Western Conference Finals for the second time in the history of the team.

But they didn't go any further. In the summer of 2023, the Mavericks ranked 12th in Duke's center Derek Levry. His father died when he was 8 years old due to drug addiction. He was raised by his mother, a female basketball athlete, and was a hard-working young man. For the Mavericks, Levri seems to be the reappearance of the 2011 champion center Tyson Chandler, who became a good partner of Luka Doncic and Irving. In the spring of 2024, the Dallas Mavericks obtained the Washington Wizards' Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington through trades, building a tough forward defense. Even though they only ranked fifth in the West in the 50 wins in the regular season, they have a tough and hard-working forward group, as well as the twins, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

There is only one uncertainty: Levry's mother passed away before the playoffs began.

In the first round of the Western Conference playoffs, the Mavericks met the Clippers who lost Leonard due to injury and entered the fifth game 2-2. Irving actively defended, accelerated enthusiastically, and shared the task of holding the ball; Levry, Gafford, and Jones Jr. fought with Washington's four major forwards, and Klebe made a three-pointer to open the Clippers' front line, so Doncic scored 35 points and 10 assists, allowing the Mavericks to break through the Clippers' 30 points and advance in the sixth game. In the second round, they encountered the No. 1 Oxford Thunder, the No. 1 in the Western Conference regular season, and suffered a three-pointer from the Thunder in the first game, losing 22 points.

But from the second game, the Mavericks found the routine. They won the second game with 29 points from PJ Washington's weak side raid, and then won the third game in a bloody battle, leading the Thunder 2-1: Irving scored 14 points in the last 15 minutes of the third game. But the Mavericks' biggest unsung hero is Texas teenager PJ Washington: It is said that his goal since childhood is to play in Kentucky, enter the NBA, and go to the Dallas Mavericks in Texas to play in Dallas, and dreams come true. On this day, he scored 27 points for his hometown team, the Mavericks, and won the game: another dream come true.

In the fourth game, the Thunder used Carson Wallace to play against Irving, and in the fourth quarter Irving scored 0 of 4 shots; at the same time, Alexander scored a career-high 34 points in the playoffs and 22 points in the second half, allowing the Thunder to win a game back. After the game, Alexander said, "We just persisted, we played one round and one round, and the game turned to us in the end."

The two sides entered the battle of Tianwang Mountain 2-2, and Luca Doncic played his personal best game in the playoffs of the season: 31 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists. After the game, he admitted: "I just played seriously and focused on basketball. Sometimes I forgot my love for basketball. I focused today and played with a smile." Doncic increased his off-ball movement in this game, worked with Irving many times to pass and cut at high positions, and even at the end of the game, he chased and blocked an Alexander breakthrough.. And the most important thing: he actively engages in defense and no longer complains to the referee.

Then there was Game 6, the Thunder started a 16-6 game, with Doncic and Irving scoring and recovering.

Alexander and Jaylen Williams gave the Thunder 15 points at one point, but coach Kidd used rookie Levry to control the inside. Levry, who had just lost his mother before the playoffs, played in this series incredible, and in the fourth quarter, he ended for the Mavericks. In the last moment, the Mavericks' Jones Jr. made a magical jump shot, and PJ Washington made three free throws, which is a microcosm of the entire series: the Mavericks won not only by Doncic and Irving, but by the tough rebounds of two centers Gafford and Levry, relying on the passionate front line of PJ Washington and Jones Jr. The Mavericks narrowly defeated the Thunder 117-116 and advanced 4-2. Alexander ended the season, but he was eliminated with his head high: he brought the Thunder to the West in the regular season first, and the regular season MVP lost to Jokic; he scored 36 points in the playoffs.

On the other side, Luka Doncic is about to usher in his true peak moment when facing the Timberwolves in the 2024 Western Conference Finals. In the first game of the Western Conference Finals, the Mavericks defeated the Timberwolves 108-105. After the game, Doncic joked that he had exchanged roles with his teammates. In fact, the two sides did have interchangeable roles in this game: the Mavericks scored 62-38 in the interior and overwhelmed the Timberwolves with double towers, and the Timberwolves shot 18 three-pointers. The Mavericks shrank the basket and only allowed Edwards to make a two-pointer in the game.

Doncic and Irving made a total of 24 mid-range shots, and the team scored 21 goals from the basket. Barkley believes that the Timberwolves' strategy is to "let anyone other than Doncic and Irving defeat themselves", and the Mavericks do win with center: Gafford and Levry have two centers, scored 19 points with 13 shots, and the two have a total of 20 rebounds, including 8 of the frontcourt rebounds. In the second game, the Timberwolves' sixth man Naz Reid scored 7 three-pointers in this game, fulfilling his original confession, "My idol is Durant, I hope one day I can tell him how much I like him." However, Doncic ruled in the first three quarters and Irving ruled in the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Timberwolves once led 86-79, so Irving scored the first three-pointer in the series. On the defensive end, Irving faced Edwards, limiting the attack of the young genius. In the last minute of the game, the Mavericks fell 5 points behind 103 to 108, but Doncic assisted Irving to shoot a three-pointer, and Levry replaced the defense and forced Edwards to pass out of bounds. In the last moment, Doncic faced Gobert and shot to win the finale. 109 to 108, the Mavericks took a 2-0 lead.

The nightmare of the Timberwolves Twin Towers is not over yet. In the third game, Towns was defended to 5 of 18 shots, while Doncic and Irving took turns to challenge the Timberwolves' double towers. At the critical moment of the fourth quarter, Doncic took Gobert alone, and Irving shot against Towns. The Mavericks won 116-107, leading the Timberwolves 3-0.

Edwards rose up in the fourth game and dismantled the Mavericks' slit. He scored 17 points in the first half and scored 9 assists after attracting the Mavericks' slit in the second half; Towns scored 20 points in the second half and 25 points in the whole game. The Timberwolves used the lead defense of the entire game and replaced defense early in the outside line when pick-and-roll, avoiding Doncic and Irving's name on the double towers and winning the game back 105 to 100.

However, there is no miracle in the fifth battle. Doncic made 8 of 11 shots in the first quarter, overwhelming the Timberwolves' 19 points. The Timberwolves tried Li Kaile to squeeze through or bypass the cover. Gobert replaced defense and attacked the entire team, but he could not control Doncic. Irving made 15 points in 5 shots in the second quarter. The Mavericks led by 29 points in the first half and won 124-103. Irving and Doncic scored 36 points on both sides, and the Mavericks eliminated the Timberwolves 4-1 to advance to the 2024 Finals. Doncic became the sixth player who "leads the team in the playoffs scoring, rebounding and assists, and leads the team into the finals at the same time":

Previous cases include Kidd, Duncan, LeBron, and Jokic in 2023.

and 2024, go to the finals, Celtic Tatum.

The 2024 Eastern Conference Playoffs were extremely tragic and there were constant injuries. Embiid was injured, Philadelphia was eliminated by the Knicks in the first round; Giannis was injured, and the Bucks were eliminated by the Pacers in the first round; the Cavaliers crossed the Magic, but because Garrett Allen was injured, Mobri must be the center; the New York Knicks experienced injuries from Randall, Anunobi, Mitchell Robinson and others.

The Pacers, who finally reached the Eastern Conference Finals, were swept by the Celtics who were as stable as Mount Tai.

Celtics also made mistakes. For example, in the second game of the first round of the Heat, the Heat made 23 three-pointers in the team's history record in Boston Gardens; after the game, Tatum said, "We know this series is not easy... This series will not be as expected, and this is the beauty of the series." However, the Celtics defeated the Heat 4-1.

For example, in the second game against the Cavaliers, the Celtics lost 24 points at home. But in the third game, Tatum scored 21 points in the first half and 33 points in the game. The Celtics won 106 to 93. After the game, Holiday concluded that the Celtics' purpose ratio was "a punch is the best answer."

After that, the Celtics won the fourth game 109-102, Holiday concluded again: "Take the Cavaliers' three-pointers and let them play inside. Struce can shoot, but he, Garland, and the Cavaliers, we hope they will play inside and shoot two-pointers with high difficulty... In this era, it is better to put two points than three-pointers... They can also make difficult three-pointers anyway, let them get close to the basket, we can interfere with and get stuck, which is better for us."

In the fifth game, the Celtics won 113-98, and eliminated the Cavaliers 4-1 to advance. Jaylen Brown scored the highest 7 assists in a single game in his career, and Horford became the third player to score 20 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists in the playoffs after he was 37 years old - and 6 three-pointers.

This is the sixth time Horford plays the Cavaliers in the playoffs, and the first time he passes the level. In the Eastern Conference Finals, the Celtics vs. Pacers, 3 points behind the Deer with 10 seconds left in 48 minutes, but Jaylen Brown scored a tied three-pointer. The game was dragged into overtime, and the Celtics won 133-128. In the second game, Jaylen scored a career-high 40 points in his playoff career. When asked after the game that he was not selected for the regular season lineup, Jaylen replied: "We have two games left before the Finals, so I don't care." In the third game, the Celtics reversed 18 points, and Holiday locked the game for the team at the last moment, narrowly defeating the Pacers 114-111, leading 3-0. Then came the fourth game 105-102. A 4-0 sweep, the 23rd finals in the team history.

This is the 2024 Celtics: from the regular season to the playoffs, they occasionally missed the accuracy, but they were generally dominant. Before the finals against the Mavericks, they also welcomed Poggins back to recovering from the injury: two years ago, the Mavericks saw Poggins away and reached the Western Conference Finals; now, Poggins is facing their old club.

Poggins' desire to revenge against his old club directly determined the first game of the 2024 finals: the Celtics swept away the Dallas Mavericks: Poggins's wave.

Porkingis played in the first quarter and scored 11 points in 7 minutes and 17 seconds. The Celtics got the lead 25-9 and never lost it again. The Mavericks' Gemini fight alone is certainly amazing, but the Celtics' five-in-one linkage, relying on thickness and space, makes the Mavericks unable to defend themselves.

Celtics led the first half 58-29, and then the Mavericks used Levri to play unlimited defense. Doncic led the team to a 35-14 in 11 minutes, and he scored 19 points alone during this period. But the Shuangjie immediately took over and curbed the Mavericks' pursuit. Jaylen Brown forced Levry to commit two fouls, interrupting the Mavericks' pursuit of points, and the Celtics finally got off to a good start in the finals 107-89. Doncic was the assist leader in the playoffs this year before the Finals, but he only had 1 assist in the first game with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Tatum spoke out the Celtics' strategy: "A player like Doncic can always get his score, so we try our best to control his teammates."

Before the second game, Coach Kidd emphasized in the locker room: It is best to limit the ball to one side, and don't let the Celtics break through the middle! Don't be easily transferred! PJ Washington said that Coach Kidd encouraged him to play like a Magician and speed up the attack. Doncic found his teammate in this game and scored a triple-double of 32 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists in the whole game. He scored 23 points in the first half, forcing the Celtics to give up the single defense and attack him, and got 8 assists in the second half.

However, the Celtics still have a way: Jaylen Brown shouted to his teammates, constantly asking his teammates to maintain confidence, and break through and pass the ball simply. And the Celtics' silent hero was Holiday. In the first half, he scored 17 points quietly. In the third quarter, Holiday relied on frontcourt rebounds, counterattacks and covers to help the team, and sent Tatum's pass into the basket, giving Tatum's 10th assist and the Celtics led by 12 points.

In the last moment, White blocked PJ Washington's layup and completed a deadly defense: this is the 20th block of White's 16 games in the playoffs this season. The Celtics won 105 to 98 and led 2 to 0.

After the game, Holiday praised the whole team. He stressed that the team, as he has always told, "no matter what the price is paid", and he praised Tatum, who made 6 of 22 shots, for "a triple-double if he was short of one rebound." Two days later is Holiday's birthday. This victory was his 34th birthday gift to himself.

Holiday was 34 years old and one day, and the Celtics won the third game of the finals 106-99, leading the Mavericks 3-0. It was the turn of Twins to celebrate Holiday's birthday: Tatum scored 20 points in the first half. Jaylen Brown scored 24 points in the second half.

Celtics once led 21 points in the fourth quarter and were chased to a 3-point margin - then Luca Doncic was sent off for the first time in the playoffs and the pursuit was suspended. Irving's highest 35 points in this game were wasted.

Because Poggins was absent in this game, the Mavericks started the game and shot 10 goals in the penalty area in 10 minutes. The Mavericks no longer attack Tatum and try to lock the entire Celtic team. In the second half, Tatum reminded his teammates during the timeout, "Don't rush to make a strong three-pointer, you should break more points and find opportunities." Jaylen Brown scored 15 points in the third quarter to save the game. The Mavericks relied on Levri's vitality to hit a 22-2 climax, but Jaylen Brown had to make two fouls in a row to knock Doncic out, so the Celtics won it steadily. In the fourth game, the Mavericks recovered a city 122 to 84. The big news about the game was that Levry was empty in the right corner of the first quarter, so he shot his first three-pointer in his NBA career, and accidentally became the youngest player to score a three-pointer in the NBA history. This record is also a little bit of fate compensation for this hard-working rookie who just lost a relative before the playoffs but entered the finals.

But in the fifth game, the Celtics didn't wait any more: after all, their last championship was sixteen years ago, and the last one was thirty-eight years ago.

Coach Mazula, who used to be unsuccessful, called a timeout seriously in the sixth game: Levri dunked the Mavericks to 13-16 in the first quarter, and he paused. When the Mavericks chased to 39 to 48 in the second quarter, he paused another timeout and replaced Horford. Tatum scored the 16th point in the half against Doncic, with 9 assists at the same time. Prichard then made a three-pointer in the half and locked in the momentum of the game early. In the end, the Celtics won the championship 106-88.

Derek White blocked Giant Levry in the fourth quarter. With 193 cm in size, he won 24 blocks in the team in the 2024 playoffs.

Holiday played decisively in the Eastern Conference Finals and the second game of the finals, scoring 15 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists in the championship game. In the fourth quarter, Van Gundys praised him, "He is the team player that all teams dream of."

2024 playoffs and finals, Tatum led the Celtics in scoring, rebounds and assists.

Jaylen Brown, after winning the Eastern Conference Finals MVP, is the Finals MVP. When asked about his feelings about winning the championship after the game, he roared to the sky and couldn't express his feelings..

In the previous season, Jaylen Brown lost the game with 8 mistakes against Heat; this season, he was perfectly redeemed. Earlier, Jaylen Brown and Tatum knew each other in high school and were roommates in basketball training camps. Before the 2017 draft, Manager Danny Angie also asked Jaylen, who was already at the Celtics, how did she view Tatum, and she chose Tatum after she was affirmed. As early as 2020, Jaylen told Tatum, "It's a great honor to play with you, learn from you and grow." After seven years of partnering, they won the championship.

In 2008, the Celtics won the championship last time, there was a difficult start: the Celtics defeated the Atlanta Hawks seven games in the first round, and the Hawks' center was rookie Al Horford. He just won two championships in college basketball with Florida, and everyone praised him as a perfect champion team player.

But after many years of struggling in the NBA, he has never won the championship.

In 2016, he came to the Celtics, and then-Celtic boss Danny Angie told him, "You can win the championship elsewhere, but the experience of winning the championship in Boston is unique." So he joined the Celtics. Finally, in 2024, in 2007, Al Horford, in his 17th season and 186th playoffs, together with Jaylen Brown in 2016 and Jayson Tatum in 2017, he won his first NBA championship in laughter and sigh. He said in person: It's incredible, but this is just like the scene he imagined when he came to the Celtics eight years ago.