Celtics slap Heat in face with savage post-NBA Finals party move
06/18/2024 10:46 AM
It’s party time for the Boston Celtics. After a grueling journey in the 2023-24 NBA season, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and the rest of the C’s have earned every right to celebrate their NBA title — the franchise’s first since 2008 and 18th overall in franchise history. But the winning seems to continue and extend off the court for the Celtics.
It did not just end when Boston took down the Dallas Mavericks in Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals Monday night at TD Garden, as Boston is reportedly headed to South Beach to continue their feast before the highly anticipated championship parade back home.
“Celtics are headed to Miami for a few days to party. Parade is expected to be this Friday,” shared Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe following Boston’s 106-88 win over the Mavericks.
That report was later seconded by Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports:
“They say not to report what you see on the whiteboards when media is allowed into locker rooms… but written in black sharpie here in TD Garden's home dressing room, now doused in champagne: "Noon FLT to Miami"
Whether that party in Miami is the Celtics’ way of rubbing more salt into the wounds of Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat or not is something that may be difficult to ascertain. Either way, Boston players partying in Miami will not be a pretty sight for Heat fans.
The Celtics eliminated Miami from the 2024 NBA Playoffs with a five-game win in the first round. It would have been sweeter for Boston if Butler played in that series, but the Heat star missed all games in that matchup due to an injury. Nevertheless, that was payback scored by the Celtics for last year’s collapse in the Eastern Conference finals versus Butler and the Heat.
The Celtics were too much for Luka Doncic, Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals
Just like the Heat, the Mavericks only scored a win against the Eastern Conference’s juggernaut of a squad. Dallas, which averaged 115.3 points per game back in the regular season and posted a 55.8 effective field goal percentage — 11th and eighth overall in the league, respectively — averaged only 99.2 points and had a 51.6 effective field goal percentage in the 2024 finals. Doncic averaged nearly 30 points a game against Boston, but he did it while shooting only 47.2 percent from the floor. Kyrie Irving had it worse, as he was among the biggest reasons the Mavericks fell prey to Boston, as he put up just 19.8 points on a cold 41.4 field goal percentage.
The Celtics actually shot worse than Dallas, but they never looked like they were in serious trouble. There was the stumble in Game 4, but that was easily atoned by their soul-crushing effort in Game 5 where they edged Dallas in nearly every important facet.
Can Boston repeat?
The Celtics have yet to have their parade in Boston, but it’s not too early to ask whether Boston would go back-to-back and increase their championship total to 19 by 2025.
At the very least, the Celtics should be able to contend. They still have Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. They just extended Jrue Holiday and a healthier Kristaps Porzingis can be expected in the 2024-25 campaign. Derrick White also remains under contract.
The challenge for the Celtics in the offseason is to find the team’s core enough help from the backups, with several Boston players to potentially hit the free-agent market like Luke Kornet, Luke Kornet, and Luke Kornet.
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