Sixteen years ago today, the Celtics won their 17th NBA Championship.
Now it is a record-breaking 18 after Boston cruised to a 106-88 win in Game 5 of the NBA Finals to claim the series 4-1 and another title.
With it, the Celtics passed the Los Angeles Lakers, who they were previously tied with for the most championships in NBA history.
Boston, who hit the second-most 3-pointers (1,351) in history during the regular season, finally got it going from deep to overwhelm Dallas.
That included a circus halfcourt buzzer beater from Payton Pritchard at halftime, which was the longest made shot in the Finals in the last 25 years according to ESPN Stats and Info, and gave Boston a 67-46 lead entering the third quarter.
The Celtics didn’t look back from that point as superstar duo Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, who were drafted in 2016 and 2017, finally had their crowning moment on basketball’s biggest stage.