Jaylen Brown took home some extra hardware from TD Garden on Monday night.
Brown was officially named the NBA Finals MVP following the Boston Celtics’ series-clinching win over the Dallas Mavericks, which gave them their first championship since 2008 and 18th in franchise history.
Though all eyes were on Celtics star Jayson Tatum entering the Finals, and rightfully so, it was Brown who shined against the Mavericks. He averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and five assists throughout the series while shooting 44% from the field, and was a consistent force in their 4-1 series win.
Brown finished with 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists in their 106-88 win over the Mavericks on Monday night. He shot 7-of-23 from the field and made two 3-pointers in the win, too.
That gave him the edge over Tatum, who entered Monday’s game taking a bit of a back seat to Brown. He scored more than 20 points in just one of the Celtics’ first four games of the series, which came in a dominant 31-point outing in Game 3 in Dallas. Despite his slow start, though, Tatum finished with a near-30-point triple-double in Game 5 on Monday night. He dropped 31 points while shooting 11-of-24 from the field, and had 11 assists and eight rebounds. It was by far his best game in the Finals which, while late, came at the perfect time to ensure the series didn’t return back to Dallas for a Game 6. It just wasn’t enough to claim the MVP trophy.
The Celtics, like they have throughout most of the postseason, largely dominated the Mavericks in the Finals. They jumped up to an easy 3-0 lead after a dominant start in Boston. By that point, the Celtics had won 10 straight games dating back to Game 3 of their second round series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Boston’s lone stumble in the Finals came in Game 4, when Dončić and the Mavericks finally showed up. The Mavericks cruised to a wild 38-point win in Dallas to avoid the series sweep in what ended up being the third-largest win in a Finals game in history.
As it turns out, though, that only delayed the inevitable. The Celtics had no issue putting the Mavericks away for good on Monday night and cruised to the win at TD Garden.
This post will be updated with more information shortly.
