2024 NBA Finals

2024 NBA Finals

Team Coach Wins Boston Celtics Joe Mazzulla 4 Dallas Mavericks Jason Kidd 1
Dates:	June 6–17, 2024
MVP:	Jaylen Brown (Boston Celtics)
Eastern Finals:	Celtics defeated Pacers, 4–0
Western Finals:	Mavericks defeated Timberwolves, 4–1
NBA Finals
← 2023

The 2024 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA)'s 2023–24 season and conclusion to the season's playoffs.

The series began on June 6 and ended on June 17. In this best-of-seven playoffs series, the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeated the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks in five games, winning their first championship since 2008 and 18th overall, making them the NBA franchise with the most championships. The Celtics' Jaylen Brown was voted the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP).

For the first time since the Miami Heat in 2013, an Eastern Conference team was favored to win the Finals as the Celtics were favored to win over the Mavericks and for the first time since the Toronto Raptors in 2019, a team from the East had home-court advantage.

Background

Dallas Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks finished the regular season as the fifth seed in the Western Conference with a 50–32 record. The Mavericks made the playoffs after missing the stage last season where the team finished 38–44. The Mavericks defeated the Los Angeles Clippers and the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first and second rounds, respectively, winning each series in 6 games. They then defeated the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Conference Finals 4–1 to clinch their first NBA Finals appearance in 13 years and third overall and for the first time not facing the Heat after facing them in their first two appearances. In their last appearance in 2011, the team, which featured current head coach Jason Kidd at point guard, won their first and only title. The Mavericks became the first team since the 2009–10 Los Angeles Lakers to defeat three 50-win teams on their way to the Finals.

Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics finished the regular season as the best record in the NBA, with 64–18 and for the first time since 2008–09 won at least 60 games. Throughout the playoff run, they faced the Miami Heat in the first round, a rematch of the previous year's Eastern Conference Finals, and won the series 4–1. They then faced the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round, winning the series in five games. Finally, they swept the Indiana Pacers in the Conference Finals to reach the NBA Finals for the second time in three years and for the 23rd time in their history with their last win dating back to 2008 NBA Finals. A series win gave the Celtics their 18th championship, breaking their tie with the Lakers for the most in NBA history.

This was the Celtics' third Finals appearance where they played a team from Texas, as they previously defeated the Houston Rockets in the 1981 and 1986 Finals.

2024 NBA Playoffs

Dallas Mavericks (Western Conference Champion)			Boston Celtics (Eastern Conference Champion)
50–32 (.610) 1st Southwest, 5th West, 14th Overall	Regular season		64–18 (.780) 1st Atlantic, 1st East, 1st Overall
Defeated the (4) Los Angeles Clippers, 4–2	First Round		Defeated the (8) Miami Heat, 4–1
Defeated the (1) Oklahoma City Thunder, 4–2	Conference Semifinals		Defeated the (4) Cleveland Cavaliers, 4–1
Defeated the (3) Minnesota Timberwolves, 4–1	Conference Finals		Defeated the (6) Indiana Pacers, 4–0

Regular season series

The Celtics won the regular season series 2–0.

January 22, 2024

Recap

Boston Celtics 119, Dallas Mavericks 110

American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas

March 1, 2024

Recap

Dallas Mavericks 110, Boston Celtics 138

TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts

Series summary

Game	Date	Away Team	Result	Home Team	Referee(s)
Game 1	Thursday, June 6	Dallas	89–107 (0–1)	Boston
Game 2	Sunday, June 9	Dallas	98–105 (0–2)	Boston
Game 3	Wednesday, June 12	Boston	106–99 (3–0)	Dallas
Game 4	Friday, June 14	Boston	84–122 (3–1)	Dallas
Game 5	Monday, June 17	Dallas	88–106 (1–4)	Boston

Game summaries

Note: Times are EDT (UTC−4) as listed by NBA. If the venue is located in a different time zone, the local time is also given.

Game 1

June 6 8:30 pm	Recap	Dallas Mavericks 89, Boston Celtics 107				TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts Attendance: 19,156 Referees: Zach Zarba, Josh Tiven, Courtney Kirkland	ABC
		Scoring by quarter: 20–37, 22–26, 24–23, 23–21
		Pts: Luka Dončić 30 Rebs: Luka Dončić 10 Asts: Kyrie Irving 2		Pts: Jaylen Brown 22 Rebs: Jayson Tatum 11 Asts: three players 5 each
		Boston leads series, 1–0

Boston's Kristaps Porziņģis returned from injury and recorded 20 points and three blocks off the bench. Luka Dončić led Dallas with 30 points as the Celtics held the Mavericks to just nine assists on its 35 field goals as a team. The Celtics led by as many as 29 in the first half. In the third quarter, a 20–6 Mavericks run sparked by key shots from Dončić and Kyrie Irving cut this lead all the way down to eight, but after a timeout Boston responded with their own 14–2 run to pull away.

A moment of silence was held before the game in memory of Bill Walton, the 2-time NBA champion – including in 1986 with the Celtics as their sixth man – and broadcaster, who had died on May 27th of colorectal cancer at the age of 71. Walton's family was in attendance, and the Celtics players wore black shooting shirts bearing Walton's name with a tie-dye background while their jerseys had a black band with his name on the shoulder. Celtics team staff wore pins with a similar Walton in tie-dye.

Game 2

June 9 8:00 pm	Recap	Dallas Mavericks 98, Boston Celtics 105				TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts Attendance: 19,156 Referees: Tony Brothers, John Goble, Bill Kennedy	ABC
		Scoring by quarter: 28–25, 23–29, 23–29, 24–22
		Pts: Luka Dončić 32 Rebs: Luka Dončić 11 Asts: Luka Dončić 11		Pts: Jrue Holiday 26 Rebs: Jrue Holiday 11 Asts: Jayson Tatum 12
		Boston leads series, 2–0

Jrue Holiday led the Celtics to a 2–0 series lead with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Jaylen Brown added 21 points and 3 steals, while Jayson Tatum recorded a near-triple-double of 18 points, 9 rebounds, and 12 assists. For the Mavericks, Luka Dončić notched a triple-double of 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists in a losing effort, becoming the first player in Dallas franchise history to record a triple-double in the NBA Finals.

Game 3

June 12 8:30 pm (7:30 pm CDT)	Recap	Boston Celtics 106, Dallas Mavericks 99				American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas Attendance: 20,311 Referees: Marc Davis, James Capers, Kevin Scott	ABC
		Scoring by quarter: 30–31, 20–20, 35–19, 21–29
		Pts: Jayson Tatum 31 Rebs: Jaylen Brown 8 Asts: Jaylen Brown 8		Pts: Kyrie Irving 35 Rebs: Dereck Lively II 13 Asts: Luka Dončić 6
		Boston leads series, 3–0

Boston held off a Mavericks comeback by winning the game to move on the brink of their 18th title. The Mavericks had a 22–2 run to cut Boston's lead to 93–92 but the Celtics responded with a 13–7 run of their own to seal the victory.

As was done for Bill Walton prior to Game 1, a moment of silence was held before the game for NBA legend Jerry West, who died earlier that same day at the age of 86.

Game 4

June 14 8:30 pm (7:30 pm CDT)	Recap	Boston Celtics 84, Dallas Mavericks 122				American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas Attendance: 20,277 Referees: Scott Foster, David Guthrie, James Williams	ABC
		Scoring by quarter: 21–34, 14–27, 25–31, 24–30
		Pts: Jayson Tatum 15 Rebs: Jayson Tatum 5 Asts: Al Horford 4		Pts: Luka Dončić 29 Rebs: Dereck Lively II 12 Asts: Kyrie Irving 6
		Boston leads series, 3–1

Led by Luka Dončić's 29 points, the Mavericks staved off elimination with a 122–84 blowout victory to cut Boston's series lead to 3–1. Kyrie Irving added 21 points for the Mavericks, while Tim Hardaway Jr. scored all of his 15 points in the fourth quarter. As for the Celtics, Jayson Tatum led his team with 15 points while Sam Hauser added 14, and Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday scored 10 each. The loss snapped a 10-game postseason winning streak, which began when the Celtics defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

The Mavericks' 38-point win was the third largest in NBA Finals history, behind the Chicago Bulls' 42-point win against the Utah Jazz in Game 3 in 1998 and the Celtics' 39-point win in Game 6 against the Los Angeles Lakers in 2008.

Game 5

June 17 8:30 pm	Recap	Dallas Mavericks 88, Boston Celtics 106				TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts Attendance: 19,156 Referees: Zach Zarba, John Goble, Bill Kennedy	ABC
		Scoring by quarter: 18–28, 28–39, 21–19, 21–20
		Pts: Luka Dončić 28 Rebs: Luka Dončić 12 Asts: Kyrie Irving 9		Pts: Jayson Tatum 31 Rebs: Jrue Holiday 11 Asts: Jayson Tatum 11
		Boston wins NBA Finals, 4–1

Sixteen years to the date after they won their 17th title, the Celtics won their 18th title to break a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for the most championships in NBA history. Jayson Tatum led the Celtics with 31 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists in a 106–88 blowout victory. Jrue Holiday scored the first three buckets of the game for the Celtics. The 'Jays' (Tatum and Brown) started the game strong with their three-point shooting. After missing games three and four with a torn medial retinaculum and dislocated posterior tibialis tendon, which would require surgery to heal, Kristaps Porziņģis checked into the game midway through the first quarter to fanfare. The Celtics finished the first half of the game with a 21-point lead, which culminated with Payton Pritchard's buzzer-beating half-court throw, which was the longest shot made in the NBA Finals in the past 25 years, since 1998. The Mavericks never recovered or led at any point during the game.

It was a full team effort and I share this with my brothers and my partner in crime Jayson Tatum. He was with me the whole way, so we share this shit together.

Jaylen Brown, upon receiving the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award.

In the losing effort, Dončić scored 28 points, 12 rebounds, five assists, three steals and seven turnovers on 12-of-25 shooting, including 2-of-9 shooting from the three-point line. Similar to Games 1 and 2, Kyrie Irving struggled with a 5-for-16 shooting night, finishing the game with 15 points, nine assists, three rebounds and a steal. The Celtics notably had a significant edge on the glass with a 51–35 rebounding advantage, and went 17 of 20 (85%) from the free throw line compared to the Mavs' 7 of 13 (53.8%).

Jaylen Brown was voted the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP), after averaging 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5 assists. Brown edged out Tatum who averaged 22.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game for the series.

With the win, the Celtics finished with the second-best postseason record (16–3) since the NBA went to four best-of-seven rounds of the playoffs in 2003, only behind the 2016–17 Golden State Warriors, who went 16–1.

Legacy

Among the many Celtics who won their first NBA championship is Al Horford, who had previously played 186 playoff games without one.

This was the first championship for the Celtics since the 2008 Finals and 18th overall, making them the NBA franchise with the most championships. The Celtics finished the playoffs with a 16–3 record. Until their victory, the Celtics played more postseason games over an eight-season span without winning an NBA title than any team in the history of the NBA.

Aside from Jrue Holiday, who won a title with the 2021 Milwaukee Bucks, every player on the Celtics won their first championship. Al Horford set a record for the most playoff games without an NBA championship before winning one with 186. Only Karl Malone has played more playoff games (193) and never won a championship.

Among the many international players on the Celtics, Horford, Porziņģis and Neemias Queta represent the first Dominican-, Latvian-, and Portuguese-born players, respectively, to win a championship. Tatum and Brown's 107 playoff games played together represent the most by a duo prior to winning their first championship in NBA history. For the coaching staff, this represented head coach Joe Mazzulla, and assistant coaches Anthony Dobbins, Amile Jefferson, D. J. MacLeay and Matt Reynolds's first NBA championship—as well as the second for Charles Lee (2021), and fourth for Sam Cassell (1994, 1995, 2008 as a player). It also represented the first championship for 2023–24 NBA Executive of the Year Award winner, Brad Stevens, and the culmination of a ten-year rebuild that began when he originally joined the Celtics in 2013 as the head coach.

The NBA playoff pool was at a record $33,657,947 (USD), which is distributed to each of the 16 playoff teams. Boston's share of the NBA's playoff pool prior to the victory was $7,202,498. By clinching the championship they tacked on another $4,856,937 in winnings, bringing their total to $12,059,435, the most a team has ever won from the postseason bonus money pool. Dallas' share ended up at $5,899,422. The victory triggered a contractual bonus of $1,183,200 for Holiday. In total, Holiday's achievements in his first season with the Celtics netted him around $2.8 million, which represents every incentive bonus in his contract.

Rosters

Boston Celtics

Boston Celtics roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From F 12 Brissett, Oshae 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1998-06-20 Syracuse G/F 7 Brown, Jaylen 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 223 lb (101 kg) 1996-10-24 California G 20 Davison, JD (TW) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2002-10-03 Alabama F 30 Hauser, Sam 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 217 lb (98 kg) 1997-12-08 Virginia G 4 Holiday, Jrue 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1990-06-12 UCLA F/C 42 Horford, Al 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1986-06-03 Florida C 40 Kornet, Luke  7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 250 lb (113 kg) 1995-07-15 Vanderbilt G/F 50 Mykhailiuk, Sviatoslav 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1997-06-10 Kansas F 13 Peterson, Drew (TW) 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1999-11-09 Southern California F/C 8 Porzingis, Kristaps  7 ft 2 in (2.18 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1995-08-02 Latvia G 11 Pritchard, Payton 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1998-01-28 Oregon C 88 Queta, Neemias 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 248 lb (112 kg) 1999-07-13 Utah State G 44 Springer, Jaden 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 202 lb (92 kg) 2002-09-25 Tennessee F 0 Tatum, Jayson 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1998-03-03 Duke F/C 26 Tillman, Xavier 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1999-01-12 Michigan State G/F 27 Walsh, Jordan 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 2004-03-03 Arkansas G 9 White, Derrick 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1994-07-02 Colorado

Head coach Joe Mazzulla Assistant coach(es) Sam Cassell Anthony Dobbins Amile Jefferson Charles Lee D. J. MacLeay Matt Reynolds Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (GL) On assignment to G League affiliate (TW) Two-way affiliate player Injured Roster Last transaction: April 16, 2024

Dallas Mavericks

Dallas Mavericks roster

Players

Coaches

Pos. No. Name Height Weight DOB (YYYY-MM-DD) From F 13 Brown, Greg III (TW) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 206 lb (93 kg) 2001-09-01 Texas G/F 77 Dončić, Luka 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1999-02-28 Slovenia G 0 Exum, Dante 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 214 lb (97 kg) 1995-07-13 Australia F 3 Fudge, Alex (TW) 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2003-06-05 Florida F/C 21 Gafford, Daniel 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 234 lb (106 kg) 1998-10-01 Arkansas G/F 8 Green, Josh 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 2000-11-16 Arizona G/F 10 Hardaway, Tim Jr. 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 1992-03-16 Michigan G 1 Hardy, Jaden 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 2002-07-05 Coronado HS (NV) G 11 Irving, Kyrie 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 1992-03-23 Duke F 55 Jones, Derrick Jr. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 1997-02-15 UNLV F 42 Kleber, Maxi 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1992-01-29 Germany G 9 Lawson, A. J. 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 179 lb (81 kg) 2000-07-15 South Carolina C 2 Lively, Dereck II 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 2004-02-12 Duke F 88 Morris, Markieff 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 245 lb (111 kg) 1989-09-02 Kansas F/C 7 Powell, Dwight 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) 1991-07-20 Stanford F 18 Prosper, Olivier-Maxence  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 2002-07-03 Marquette F 25 Washington, P. J. 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 230 lb (104 kg) 1998-08-23 Kentucky G 00 Williams, Brandon (TW) 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1999-11-22 Arizona

Head coach Jason Kidd Assistant coach(es) Darrell Armstrong Josh Broghamer Jared Dudley Eric Hughes Alex Jensen Marko Milič God Shammgod Sean Sweeney Keith Veney Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended (GL) On assignment to G League affiliate (TW) Two-way affiliate player Injured Roster Last transaction: March 31, 2024

Player statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

Boston Celtics statistics

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Tatum, JaysonJayson Tatum	5	5	40.2	.388	.263	.926	7.8	7.2	1.0	0.6	22.2
Brown, JaylenJaylen Brown	5	5	38.5	.440	.235	.733	5.4	5.0	1.6	0.8	20.8
Holiday, JrueJrue Holiday	5	5	37.8	.536	.421	1.000	7.4	3.8	0.6	0.6	14.4
White, DerrickDerrick White	5	5	36.7	.389	.395	1.000	4.8	2.6	1.2	1.0	13.8
Porziņģis, KristapsKristaps Porziņģis	3	0	20.0	.583	.222	.875	3.7	0.3	0.0	1.7	12.3
Hauser, SamSam Hauser	5	0	15.5	.519	.478	1.000	3.0	0.6	0.2	0.0	8.2
Horford, AlAl Horford	5	5	30.0	.520	.471	.500	6.2	2.6	1.2	0.6	7.0
Pritchard, PaytonPayton Pritchard	5	0	12.4	.250	.188	—	1.4	1.6	0.2	0.0	3.4
Tillman, XavierXavier Tillman	2	0	9.3	.667	1.000	1.000	2.5	0.5	0.0	1.0	3.0
Brissett, OshaeOshae Brissett	3	0	6.2	.500	1.000	1.000	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.3	2.3
Queta, NeemiasNeemias Queta	1	0	5.4	1.000	—	—	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	2.0
Mykhailiuk, SviatoslavSviatoslav Mykhailiuk	3	0	4.4	.250	.200	—	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.7
Kornet, LukeLuke Kornet	3	0	5.1	.500	—	—	0.7	0.7	0.3	0.0	0.7
Springer, JadenJaden Springer	1	0	8.0	.000	—	—	2.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Walsh, JordanJordan Walsh	1	0	5.4	.000	.000	—	1.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0

Dallas Mavericks statistics

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Dončić, LukaLuka Dončić	5	5	38.8	.472	.244	.586	8.8	5.6	2.6	0.0	29.2
Irving, KyrieKyrie Irving	5	5	39.0	.414	.276	1.000	3.0	5.0	0.6	0.0	19.8
Washington, P. J.P. J. Washington	5	5	32.6	.409	.273	.750	6.2	1.4	0.0	0.6	10.8
Gafford, DanielDaniel Gafford	5	5	14.8	.727	—	.667	4.4	0.4	0.2	0.6	8.0
Jones Jr., DerrickDerrick Jones Jr.	5	5	23.2	.433	.250	.800	2.8	0.6	0.6	0.6	6.6
Lively II, DereckDereck Lively II	5	0	22.8	.706	1.000	.429	8.2	0.4	0.8	0.2	5.6
Green, JoshJosh Green	5	0	19.4	.450	.545	.500	2.8	0.6	0.4	0.0	5.4
Hardy, JadenJaden Hardy	5	0	6.5	.438	.400	.833	1.2	1.0	0.0	0.0	4.2
Hardaway Jr., TimTim Hardaway Jr.	4	0	11.9	.333	.417	—	1.5	0.3	0.3	0.0	3.8
Exum, DanteDante Exum	5	0	8.2	.700	.667	.500	1.0	0.4	0.2	0.0	3.8
Morris, MarkieffMarkieff Morris	1	0	12.0	.200	.333	—	4.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	3.0
Kleber, MaxiMaxi Kleber	5	0	15.9	.250	.167	1.000	1.4	0.6	0.2	0.2	1.8
Lawson, A. J.A. J. Lawson	2	0	5.3	.500	—	—	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0
Powell, DwightDwight Powell	3	0	5.2	—	—	—	1.3	0.7	0.0	0.0	0.0
Prosper, Olivier-MaxenceOlivier-Maxence Prosper	2	0	4.0	.000	—	—	1.5	0.5	0.0	0.0	0.0

Media coverage

The Finals was televised in the United States by ABC (including local affiliates WCVB-TV in Boston and WFAA in Dallas) for the 22nd consecutive year. This will mark the first Finals called by the team of play-by-play announcer Mike Breen, analysts Doris Burke and JJ Redick, and sideline reporter Lisa Salters. Furthermore, this will be the first Finals since 2006 not to be feature Jeff Van Gundy or Mark Jackson as commentators, as they were laid off after the previous year's Finals.

The Finals was broadcast on ESPN Radio with Marc Kestecher and P.J. Carlesimo as commentators, as well as Jorge Sedano as the reporter. This was the first Finals since 2019 without Burke as a radio commentator for the Finals.

Viewership

Game	Ratings (households)	American audience (in millions)
1	5.7	10.99
2	6.2	12.31
3	6.0	11.43
4	4.7	9.62
5	6.3	12.22
Avg	5.8	11.315

References

Preceded by 2023

NBA Finals 2024

Succeeded by 2025