NBA Finals Recap

That's all she wrote. After what might have been the least entertaining NBA Finals of the last decade, the Boston Celtics have finally won the ring that their super team roster promised.

Boston won the first three games, before dropping game four, and then bouncing back to dominate in game five. Celtics star Jason Tatum wasn't dominant in many of the games, but saved his best for last, dropping 31 points, eleven assists, and eight rebounds to close out the Mavericks.

It was Tatum's partner in crime Jaylen Brown though who took home Finals MVP despite averaging less than Tatum in most statistical categories. The difference was his efficiency and defensive ability.

Brown was tasked with primarily guarding superstar Luka Doncic as well as shifty playmaker Kyrie Irving – the two best players for Dallas. He did this tremendously well, forcing Doncic to turn the ball over 23 times during the series, and holding Kyrie to just 16 points or less in three out of the Celtics' four wins. Brown also shot an impressive 44% from the field throughout the series.

Brown recently signed a contract that made him the highest paid player in the NBA, which many people questioned. So how did he follow that up... a Finals MVP to go along with his ring. I have to give props to that.

The biggest knock on the Celtics this year from the critics will be their path to the Finals, and how difficult, or in this case the lack of difficulty, their path featured.

They first beat a Miami Heat team that was missing superstar Jimmy Butler for the entire series due to a knee injury, as well as their first-round pick from this year Jaime Jaquez Jr. Then they played the Cleveland Cavaliers who were missing three of their best players for a portion of the series in Donovan Mitchell, Jared Allen, and Caris LeVert.

The next round they would face the Pacers, who got lucky in their own right that Knicks star Julius Randle was out for the year and couldn't suit up against them. But the Pacers beat the Knicks to advance to the ECF against the Celtics. Then in game two of that series, the Pacers best player Tyreese Haliburton injured his hamstring and did not return for the rest of the series.

So in every series matchup in the eastern portion of the Celtics playoff run, the opposing team's best player was out with an injury. Even in the series against the Mavericks Luka Doncic, the Mavericks superstar, was battling a serious knee injury throughout not just the Finals, but the entire playoffs.

Despite everything laid out and all the injuries, I still don't think it's fair to knock on the Celtics for having an "easy path." They can’t control who they face, the players they face, and the injuries that opposing teams have. Their job was to play the opposing team across from them and win, which they did.

I also want to shout out a Celtics player that doesn't get the recognition that he deserves. Jrue Holiday brough energy, experience, and efficiency to the Celtics gameplan throughout the playoffs and certainly during the NBA Finals. A huge amount of his impact and what he brought to each game doesn't show up in the box score, but Celtics fans and players know how crucial he was to this year's championship run.

It'll be interesting to see what happens moving forward from this season and looking into the next. The Celtics aren't likely to lose any of their key players, and barring something drastic happens in the offseason, they'll be the odds-on favorites to run it back and repeat.

I personally would love to see how an entirely healthy Knicks team matches up with the Celtics in a playoff series. Despite the run that the Indiana Pacers had this year, I don't see them contending for a championship next year assuming other teams stay healthy.

In addition, despite Joel Embiid winning MVP this year and having some decent support on the Philadelphia 76ers, I don't see their style of basketball taking them very far, as we saw in their playoff matchup with the Knicks this season.

That's it for today. I hope you all continue to have a good summer and a good offseason for whichever team you support.