For the seventh consecutive season, there will not be a repeat NBA champion.
As the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers prepare to battle for supremacy in 2025, it’s worth remembering the team that still reigns until this season’s winner is crowned.
The Boston Celtics had their back-to-back bid stymied by the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference semifinals, falling in six games. Crucial injuries to several of their star players helped put an end to the Celtics’ season — and could potentially impact the team into next season.
Guard Jaylen Brown played down the stretch with a partially torn meniscus in his knee. And forward Jayson Tatum will be sidelined indefinitely after rupturing his Achilles tendon. But the Celtics and their fans can always remember the magic of 2024.
Who won the 2024 NBA Finals?
The Boston Celtics defeated the Dallas Mavericks in five games to win the 2023-24 NBA championship — the franchise’s record 18th title. However, it was Boston’s first in 16 years.
Boston had the best regular-season record (64-18) and rolled through the playoffs with a 16-3 record, never needing more than five games to win a series. Jaylen Brown was named the Finals MVP after averaging 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists over the five games vs. Dallas.
“It was a joy watching the guys just grow as a team throughout the year but also like really work at it,” said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who, at 35 years old, became the youngest coach to win a championship since Boston’s Bill Russell in 1969. “There’s a group of guys in the locker room that decided they wanted to win day one, and credit to them.”
