The Boston Celtics' two best players, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, played fantastic in Game 5 of the 2024 NBA Finals to help deliver the franchise its league record 18th championship.
The Celtics eliminated the Dallas Mavericks with a 106-88 victory Monday night at TD Garden, sparking a citywide celebration that is still ongoing the following morning.
One of the best scenes from the Celtics' celebration was Tatum and Brown embracing in the locker room with the champagne flying.
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Check out the emotional scene in the videos below:
Tatum scored 31 points with 11 assists and eight rebounds in Game 5. He became the first Celtics player with 30-plus points and 10-plus assists in a Finals game.
Brown scored 21 points with eight rebounds and six assists. He ended up winning the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP Award for his excellent two-way impact in the series.
"First of all, congrats to him. Well-deserved. Extremely happy for him. This is a hell of an accomplishment," Tatum said in his postgame press conference of Brown winning Finals MVP.
"The main goal for us was to win a championship. We weren't -- we didn't care who got Finals MVP. I know that I need him through this journey and he needs me.
"So, it was great to see him have that moment and share that moment with him. I'm extremely happy for him. Well-deserved. That was big-time. He earned that."
Brown had similarly strong praise for Tatum after the game.
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"It could have gone to anybody. It could have gone to Jayson," Brown said of his Finals MVP award. "I can't talk enough about his selflessness. I can't talk enough about his attitude.
"It's just how he approached not just this series or the Finals but just the playoffs in general. And we did it together as a team, and that was the most important thing."
Repeating as champions is tough, and no team has done it since the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. But with Tatum and Brown in the fold for the foreseeable future, the Celtics should be right back in the championship chase next season.