The 2024 NBA Finals was the championship series of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) 2023–24 season and conclusion to the season's playoffs. In the best-of-seven playoffs series, starting on June 6 and concluding on June 17, the Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics defeated the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks four games to one. The Celtics' Jaylen Brown was voted the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Led by the duo of Jayson Tatum and Brown, the Celtics were seen as favorites for winning the championship, finishing with a league-best 64–18 regular season record and advancing through the playoffs with a 12–2 record. The fifth-seeded Mavericks built around Luka Dončić only became a Finals contender midway through the season after a series of roster changes. The Celtics won the first two games at home to start the series. In Dallas, the Celtics built a large lead in Game 3 which the Mavericks significantly narrowed in the fourth quarter before Boston pulled through with the victory. The Mavericks responded in Game 4 with one of the largest blowout victories in Finals history, but the Celtics won Game 5 in Boston decisively to claim the championship.
With the victory, the Celtics won their first championship since 2008 and their 18th overall, giving them the most championships of any franchise in the NBA. They were the sixth unique champion team in a row in what capped off a historically dominant season and playoffs. They continued to compete behind Brown and Tatum, but let go of many players from the championship team after being eliminated in the 2025 playoffs. Meanwhile, the Mavericks controversially traded away Dončić the next season and entered a rebuild.
Background
General This was the first playoff meeting between the Celtics and the Mavericks, as well as for all teams from the Greater Boston and Dallas–Fort Worth areas in any of the four major North American sports leagues. It was also the third Finals appearance for the Celtics where they played a team from Texas, as they previously defeated the Houston Rockets in the 1981 and 1986 Finals. Boston won both their meetings against Dallas in the regular season, and finished 14 games better than the Mavericks in the regular season. The Mavericks were the fifth team in NBA history to reach the Finals without holding home-court advantage in any round, the last team to do so being the eighth-seeded Miami Heat in 2023. Out of those five, only one, the Rockets in 1995, won the championship. Had the Mavericks won, they would have become the 11th NBA team to win multiple championship titles.
Boston Celtics
After losing the 2022 NBA Finals to the Golden State Warriors, the Boston Celtics were defeated in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals in seven games after mounting a failed attempt to overcome a 3–0 series deficit. During the off-season, the Celtics were involved in a trade which sent out longtime guard Marcus Smart in exchange for Kristaps Porziņģis. They also acquired defensive guard Jrue Holiday while trading away Robert Williams III, Malcolm Brogdon and two first-round draft picks. The retooled roster was once again led by the 'Jays', the longtime duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, with support from the two-way backcourt of Holiday and Derrick White and rotating centers Porziņģis and Al Horford.
The Celtics prioritized three-point-shooting offensively while maintaining a versatile roster of defenders. They dominated throughout the season, winning all of their first 20 games at home, permanently occupying the first seed position in the Eastern Conference from mid-November onwards, and finishing with a league-best 64–18 record; the highest Eastern Conference win percentage since the 2012–13 Miami Heat. Boston set numerous records during the season. They had the highest offensive rating in NBA history at 123.2, tied the third-best net rating in NBA history at 11.6, the fifth-widest margin of outscoring their opponents by an average of 11.3 points per game, and the highest points per possession (1.22) in league history. They also had the widest margin of wins between the first and second seeds in the Eastern Conference since 1976 at 14 games.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Celtics faced the Miami Heat in 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, again winning in five games. After sweeping the Indiana Pacers in the Conference Finals they reached the NBA Finals. Due to injuries to key players on all three opposing teams during their run through the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Celtics' path to the Finals was considered by media writers as one of the easiest in NBA history. The Celtics had the best point differential in the playoffs at plus-10, the second-best points-per-game average at 111.4 (behind the Pacers), and allowed the third-lowest points per game for their opponents with 101.3. Even as starting center Porziņģis, who suffered a soleus strain in Game 4 of the first round, was sidelined for the next two rounds, the Celtics went 9–1 without him.
This was the 23rd appearance in the NBA Finals for the Celtics, and their second in three years. Media commentators, analysts, and the Celtics themselves viewed the team as in a "championship or bust" scenario, implying their historically dominant season would be overshadowed if they failed to win the Finals. A Finals victory would give the Celtics their 18th championship, one more than the Los Angeles Lakers for the most in NBA history. Their last victory was in the 2008 NBA Finals, and before then the 1986 Finals. Joe Mazzulla, the 35-year-old head coach appointed by the Celtics a season prior, was tied with Bill Russell as the youngest coach in league history to lead a team to the finals. Russell did so for the Celtics in 1969 as a player-coach. Porziņģis met his former team, the Mavericks, in the Finals, having played for them from 2019 to 2022.
Dallas Mavericks
Despite acquiring star guard Kyrie Irving at the trade deadline the prior season, the Dallas Mavericks missed the 2023 NBA playoffs entirely after finishing as the 11th seed in the Western Conference. Over the off-season, the team reconfigured its roster to center around Irving and Luka Dončić, drafting Dereck Lively II and Olivier-Maxence Prosper, and signing Grant Williams, Seth Curry, Dante Exum and Derrick Jones Jr.
Throughout the 2023–24 season, the backcourt duo of Irving and Dončić was praised by analysts as one of the greatest of all time offensively. Dončić was the scoring leader of the season and finished third in voting for Most Valuable Player, while Irving underwent what was viewed as a renaissance season, averaging 25.6 points on near 50–40–90 shooting percentages. Exum and Jones Jr. provided effective 3-and-D performances, while Lively also played a pivotal role as a big man, making the All-Rookie second team and obtaining the highest field-goal percentage for a rookie season in NBA history at 74.7%. However, Dallas nonetheless struggled through the first half of the season barely above the .500 mark. Until the trade deadline in February, the team was 22nd in defensive rating, 12th in offense and 17th in net rating across the league. Among other roster pieces, Irving and Dončić both missed a significant number of games during that period due to injuries.
At the trade deadline, the Mavericks made more major changes to the roster, exchanging Williams and Curry for power forward P. J. Washington and acquiring center Daniel Gafford. The two players would further complement the Irving–Dončić backcourt by significantly reinforcing the team's defense into a powerhouse. The trade has been regarded as the catalyst for the Mavericks morphing into championship contenders by the next month. From March 7 onwards, the Mavericks had the best defensive rating, the 12th-best offensive rating and the fifth-best net rating in the league, and went 16–4 to end the season. From February 1 onwards, Dallas had a 36–15 record: the second best in the league behind the Celtics. They eventually finished as the fifth seed in the Western Conference with a 50–32 overall record.
In the first round of the playoffs, the Mavericks faced the Los Angeles Clippers, who had eliminated them in two first-round series in the five years prior. The Mavericks won the series in six games. In the second round they faced the first-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder. The Mavericks overcame a 16-point halftime deficit in Game 6 to eliminate the Thunder, advancing to their second Western Conference Finals in three years. After defeating the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first three games of the Conference Finals by a combined margin of 13 points, dropping Game 4, and winning Game 5 in a 21-point blowout, the Mavericks secured their first NBA Finals appearance in 13 years and their third in franchise history. In their last appearance in 2011, the team, which featured current head coach Jason Kidd as point guard, won their first and only title. Like Porziņģis, Irving faced off against a former team of his, the Celtics, whom he played for from 2017 to 2019, having maintained a highly strained relationship with their fan base since his departure. Irving was a combined 0–10 against the Celtics since leaving Boston in free agency.
Road to the Finals
Notes z – Clinched home court advantage for the entire playoffs c – Clinched home court advantage for the conference playoffs y – Clinched division title x – Clinched playoff spot pi – Clinched play-in tournament spot * – Division leader
+Playoff resultsBoston Celtics (Eastern Conference champion) Dallas Mavericks (Western Conference champion)Defeated the 8th seeded Miami Heat, 4–1First roundDefeated the 4th seeded Los Angeles Clippers, 4–2Defeated the 4th seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, 4–1Conference semifinalsDefeated the 1st seeded Oklahoma City Thunder, 4–2Defeated the 6th seeded Indiana Pacers, 4–0Conference finalsDefeated the 3rd seeded Minnesota Timberwolves, 4–1
Regular season series The Celtics won the regular season series 2–0.
Series summary GameDateRoad teamResultHome teamGame 1 June 6 Dallas Mavericks 89–107 (0–1) Boston CelticsGame 2 June 9 Dallas Mavericks 98–105 (0–2) Boston CelticsGame 3 June 12 Boston Celtics 106–99 (3–0) Dallas MavericksGame 4 June 14 Boston Celtics 84–122 (3–1) Dallas MavericksGame 5 June 17 Dallas Mavericks 88–106 (1–4) Boston Celtics
Game summaries Note: Times are EDT (UTC−4) as listed by the NBA and locally in Boston. For games in Dallas, the local time is also given (CDT, UTC−5).
Game 1
Boston's Kristaps Porziņģis returned from injury after not playing in a game for 38 days and recorded 20 points, six rebounds and three blocks off the bench to help the Celtics achieve a 107–89 victory over the Mavericks. He became the fourth player to score 20 or more points off the bench in their first NBA Finals appearance. Jaylen Brown was the highest scorer for the Celtics, recording 22 points, while Jayson Tatum had 16 points and 11 rebounds and Derrick White had 15 points. Luka Dončić led the Mavericks with 30 points and 10 rebounds, but went 4 of 12 in three-point attempts. P. J. Washington was the next highest Mavericks scorer with 14 points, while Kyrie Irving, who received boos from the crowd whenever he touched the ball, was limited to just 12 points on 6-of-19 overall shooting.