Sports Poets Society

Boston guard Jaylen Brown and Celtics fans celebrate as Mavericks guard Luka Dončić gets a hand from Kyrie Irving as they leave the court after head coach Jason Kidd calls a timout in the fourth quarter.  After a stirring Game 4, the Mavs couldn’t replicate that performance and fell to the Celtics 106-88, losing the NBA Finals in five games. (Smiley N. Pool/staff Photographer) Mavs’ season came a long way Unable to recapture Game 4 magic, Mavs fall in rout 18 Jun 2024 - The Dallas Morning News BOSTON — The Mavs are coming home without the finals or the Celtics, who may not make it out of the West End for a week. The locals take their hoops seriously. Deliriously, you might say. The Bruins flamed out, the Patriots stink and the Red Sox are already a dozen games back of the hated Yankees, but the C’s came through with their Nba-record 18th title and first in 16 years, locking down streets around TD Garden for blocks in anticipation of the post-game party. Back in Dallas, meanwhile, t...

Mavericks guard Luka  Dončić  finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and five assists in Game 5. He struggled from 3-point range and couldn’t get to the basket as easily as in Game 4. (Smiley N. Pool/staff Photographer) In loss to league’s best team, Dallas took step toward getting to top 18 Jun 2024 - The Dallas Morning News MIKE CURTIS mike.curtis@dallasnews.com BOSTON — The Mavericks’ underdog bid to win the NBA Finals as a No. 5 seed ended in Game 5 on Monday night, as the Boston Celtics celebrated their 18th championship with a 106-88 win in TD Garden. Here are five thoughts from the loss: A champion is crowned In the game’s waning moments, NBA officials began to rope off the entrances to the parquet floor of TD Garden, the universal sign that Boston was inching closer to the title. The Celtics had provided fans with black T-shirts featuring the phrase “ Whatever it takes ” with the Larry O’Brien Trophy serving as the “i.” It took a statement game from Jayson Tatum, who had...

Mavericks guard Luka  Dončić  turns the ball over against  Celtics guard Jrue Holiday during the first half. Smiley N. Pool/staff Photographer 18 Jun 2024 - The Dallas Morning News BRAD TOWNSEND btownsend@dallasnews.com BOSTON — The most implausibly long joyride in the Mavericks’ 44season history ended here Monday night, on Boston’s famed parquet court, at 9:59 p.m. Central. It ended with Boston’s 10688 victory in TD Garden in Game 5 of the NBA Finals and with the Celtics celebrating their league-record 18th championship. It ended on the 236th day and 104th game of a Mavericks season that basketball pundits were certain would end weeks ago. The ride’s over, but for the Mavericks and their fans, the thrill and sense of attaining the franchise’s third finals berth endures. “We’ve been together for five months,” said Luka Dončić, alluding to the trade-deadline deals that revamped the roster and catapulted Dallas through the playoffs. “I’m proud of every guy that stepped on t...

Guard teamed with Jayson Tatum for impressive tandem 18 Jun 2024 - The Dallas Morning News By DOUG KYED - Boston Herald BOSTON — Jaylen Brown said it best. It was a full-team effort for the Celtics to clinch their 18th banner with a 106-88 Game 5 win over the Mavericks in the NBA Finals. Jayson Tatum led the game with 31 points and 11 assists. Jrue Holiday collected a team-leading 11 rebounds. Sam Hauser buried two firsthalf 3s with a steal. Payton Pritchard drilled another half-court buzzer-beater. Al Horford was a point and rebound away from a doubledouble. Derrick White lost half a tooth. And Kristaps Porzingis played it all on a torn medial retinaculum, which was impressive in itself. But Brown took home NBA Finals MVP after another strong performance in front of a raucous TD Garden crowd on Monday night. Brown scored 21 points with eight rebounds, six assists and two steals in the championship-clinching contest. He was 7 of 23 from the field and 2 of 9 from 3. He hit 5 of 6 free t...

Kristaps Porzingis (center) stares down Dallas big man  P.J. Washington (25)  after being fouled in the first half. (Erin Clark/globe Staff) 18 Jun 2024 - The Boston Globe By Khari Thompson boston.com Staff  Khari Thompson can be reached at khari.thompson@globe.com. Emerged from the TD Garden players’ tunnel several minutes after his teammates took the floor for pregame layup lines ahead of Monday night’s NBA finals clincher. Porzingis stepped onto the court with six and a half minutes until tip-off and was met with enthusiastic applause. he raised a cup to the crowd and took a sip out of it before placing it on a cooler and pointing toward fans. The Boston faithful were thrilled to see him back, and so were his teammates. “He’s just a great teammate, a great competitor,” Derrick White said. “i was happy for him that he was able to go back there. the crowd cheering him on like that just got him going and he can do so many different things. he’s special.” Despite missing G...

8 Jun 2024 - The Boston Globe By Amin Touri GLOBE STAFF  Amin Touri can be reached at amin.touri@globe.com. And so ends a rough return to Boston for Kyrie Irving, who through a smattering of boos, and with another awful shooting night, left the floor in the final minutes of a title-clinching defeat in Game 5 of the NBA Finals monday night. Irving knew the reception he’d receive in Boston, five years after he bolted for Brooklyn in acrimonious fashion, and the booing never subsided. he didn’t exactly answer it with his play: he was awful through the first two games of the series, averaging 14 points on a combined 13 of 37 from the field. He broke out of that slump with 35 points in another defeat in Game 3, and added a solid 21 points as the mavericks dominated Game 4. Then it all came crashing back down monday night, as Irving shot a paltry 5 of 16 as Boston put Dallas away. “Failing at this stage definitely sucks,” Irving said. “it’s a bitter feeling. “Basketball is a game of cent...

18 Jun 2024 - The Boston Globe By Khari Thompson BOSTON.COM STAFF Khari Thompson can be reached at khari.thompson@globe.com. Payton Pritchard put a hand up and called for the ball once he saw Al horford grab the rebound with two seconds remaining in the second quarter.Barry chin/globe STAFFJayson Tatum gives a leaping chest bump to Payton Prtichard after the guard swished his 43-foot heave to end the first half. horford wheeled around to deliver the pass. Pritchard caught it, took a dribble, and launched a 43-foot heave from beyond the halfcourt line. it was a high arcing shot that dropped through the net and gave the celtics a 21-point halftime lead. it was also Pritchard’s only shot attempt of the night. horford exhaled and said “whew” while remembering the shot at his postgame news conference. “it was beautiful. he did that, and you just kind of take a glance at the other team, and it’s one of those that just kind of breaks your spirit,” horford said. “And then, it just kind of fuel...

Playoff MVP Jaylen Brown hoisted the Larry O’Brien Championship trophy toward the  Garden rafters, marking the end of a remarkable season and a dominating playoff run. (BARRY chin/globe STAFF) Boston blitzes past Mavericks on path to history ‘We got the best fans in the world. You get very few chances in life to be great.’    - Joe Mazzulla, Celtics coach 18 giu 2024 - The Boston Globe Dan Shaughnessy Light up a hoyo de Monterrey in honor of Red Auerbach and get ready for another parade. Playing on their fabled parquet floor, with banners flapping high above courtside, the celtics won their Nbabest 18th championship Monday with a 106-88, NBA Finals game 5 victory over the dallas Mavericks. Order is restored to the pro basketball universe. From the 1950s through the ’80s, Boston’s green team ruled the National Basketball Association. the torch has been passed to a new generation of champions: Jayson tatum and Jaylen Brown. “It’s time for us to graduate,’’ Brown told tatum ...

Celtics light it up for record 18th NBA title Celtics claim first title in 16 years, set NBA record with Banner 18 18 Jun 2024 - The Boston Globe By Adam Himmelsbach Globe Staff With pieces of green and white confetti dancing in the air above him, with a thirsty and joyous Garden crowd erupting all around him, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla wrapped his hand around the microphone that had been extended in his direction and offered one final, loud message for the arena and everyone watching around the world.Barry Chin/globe StaffWith his son Deuce beside him and his teammates behind him, Jayson Tatum kissed the Larry O’brien Trophy after the Celtics beat the Mavericks in Game 5 of the NBA Finals at TD Garden. “You get very few chances in life to be great . . . when you have a chance to be great, you’ve just got to take the bull by the horns.” Throughout this magical season, Mazzulla avoided looking too far ahead by always keeping his team fully focused on the next day. but now, there are no ...

18 giu 2024 - The Boston Globe By Danny Mcdonald GLOBE STAFF  and Ava Berger and Lila Hempel-edgers GLOBE CORRESPONDENTS Delirious with jubilation, Boston celtics fans celebrated the franchise’s 18th title, and the first since 2008, as the city’s west End was transformed into one big party Monday night, with the greenand-white clad masses pouring onto the streets near td garden following their team’s defeat of the dallas Mavericks.Kayla bartkowski For the boston Globe “Let’s go Celtics!” the throngs chanted. some danced. some sang. some screamed. some hugged their loved ones. some embraced strangers. Likewise, in the area’s bars, there was unbri dled joy, buoyed by alcohol and the release of 16 years of pent-up, basketball-related emotions. Spectators chanted “MVP” for Jayson tatum. there were chants regarding kyrie irving, a talented Dallas guard considered a heel by many celtics fans, that cannot be printed in a family newspaper. “This is the most exhilarating moment of my whole ...

Jayson Tatum took in the whole scene at TD Garden, and wore some of it,  after winning his first NBA championship. (BARRY CHIN/GLOBE STAFF ) 18 Jun 2024 - The Boston Globe Gary Washburn No more doubts, no more anxiety, no more criticism, no more disheartening postseason endings. that’s ancient history. a 10-year sojourn is complete. the boston Celtics are nba champions.  One of the greatest teams in franchise history was constantly questioned during a dominant regular season and an even more impressive playoff run. but their resounding Game 5 victory, led by their much-maligned but gifted leader in Jayson tatum, punctuated an amazing season and erased years of painful playoff memories. Tatum’s ability to distribute and his transformation from mostly a scorer to one of the league’s more versatile players spearheaded this remarkable postseason run. He finished the Celtics’ masterpiece season with 31 points, 8 rebounds, and 11 assists in a runaway 106-88 win. After the Celtics ce...