The 2024 NBA Finals are over. The Boston Celtics won the championship. Jaylen Brown was named Finals MVP after defeating the Dallas Mavericks 106-88 in Game 5.
But he was clearly not the only player who had an impact on the series, as several other stars were involved, including Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.
The final report card for these four and more can be found below.
Kristaps Porzingis missed most of the postseason with a calf injury. He returned for the Finals in a more limited role than he had during the regular season, but then re-injured himself shortly after.
A torn medial retina limited him to just three games and 60 minutes in the series against Dallas, but his impact in those 60 minutes was immeasurable.
Despite only playing three games, KP posted a plus-minus of plus-minus 33 for the entire series, leading both the Celtics and Mavericks.
He was a big factor off the bench in the blowout Game 1 win, both shooting and blocking — he recorded 20 points and three blocks in just 21 minutes — and his absence was certainly felt during the two games in Dallas.
The Celtics knew there would be concerns about Porzingis’ durability when they traded for him, but he proved to be one of their most important acquisitions of last offseason, despite multiple injuries during the postseason.
Dallas’ depth was painfully obvious throughout the Finals. The Mavs may have had the two most talented players in the series in Luka and Kyrie, but they had a hard time finding any difference-makers outside of those two.
Derrick Jones Jr. was certainly not one of them. His defense, high-flying finish and occasional three-pointer were essential to a strong start late in the regular season and the first three rounds of the playoffs, but he often went largely unnoticed in the Finals.
He averaged 6.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.6 assists while shooting 43.3 percent from the field and 25.0 percent from deep.
In fairness, sometimes the intangibles come with the job when playing with a ball-dominant superstar like Luka, but there are also ways to make an impact that don’t show up in the box score. Jones offered very little of that either.
While his baseline averages (7.0 points, 6.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 1.2 steals in the Finals) weren’t spectacular, a 38-year-old Al Horford’s ability to start in place of an injured Porzingis was a big reason Boston won its 18th championship.
He had a higher plus-minus than Tatum in the series, and his shooting helped keep Dallas’ spread defense very thin. Horford shot 47.1% from 3-point range in the series.
This is Horford’s first NBA championship after 17 seasons in the NBA, but it was hardly a championship scenario — Horford spent the last few years in Boston leading up to this one, and his defense, unselfishness and shooting were key to his success.
It’s hard to imagine the Mavericks defeating the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round without P.J. Washington, who averaged 17.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.8 three-pointers in that series while shooting 46.9 percent from three-point range.
Though he took a bit of a dip against the Minnesota Timberwolves, his defensive versatility was still important in the conference finals.
In this matchup against Boston, his impact on the series was almost completely muted.
Washington was given tricky defenses at times, including against Brown and Tatum, neither of the Celtics’ stars shooting the ball well, but they also didn’t do much offensively, averaging 10.8 points and shooting 40.9 percent from the field.
Derrick White hasn’t been as explosive in scoring as he has been in previous series (he averaged 22.4 points in the first round against the Miami Heat), struggled to make two-point shots in the Dallas game and his playmaking volume has dropped off significantly.
But since being traded to the Celtics, White has developed into one of the league’s most consistent and impactful perimeter defenders, and he impressed on that front against Dallas.
White guarded Kyrie on 100 attempts in the Finals, but the Mavs’ offensive output during those attempts was well below their overall playoff record.
The second-most-frequently defended player was Washington, who is five inches taller and 35 pounds heavier than Irving, and Dallas’ offense scored even less in those situations.
White’s versatility was on full display against the Mavericks, as he made some timely three-pointers.
So while 13.8 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists may not seem like much, White’s defense and 38.9% 3-point shooting were huge factors in the win.
Derek Lively II played well in the final considering his age and experience level.
His energy, especially as an offensive rebounder, worked in Dallas’ favor on multiple occasions, and by the end of the series it was clear coach Jason Kidd trusted him more than Daniel Gafford (who he continued to start).
Lively averaged 5.6 points and 8.2 rebounds in just 22.8 minutes per game, shooting 70.6 percent from three-point range, including making one in Game 4.
Given the fact that Lively was only a rookie this season, there’s no doubt he’ll be one of the most exciting up-and-coming rim runners in the league.
Given his mobility and consistent shooting form, we can expect even more from him.
Three years after being the missing piece that led the Milwaukee Bucks to a championship, Jrue Holiday is filling the same role (or at least something very close to it) in Boston.
He guarded Kyrie more than any other Celtics player in the series, averaging 14.4 points, shooting 53.6% from the field and 42.1% from deep, not missing a single free throw, and averaging 7.4 rebounds.
Holiday could have easily joined this team and made a case to be the primary playmaker — he was already a championship-winning point guard when he arrived — but he was flexible, and his unselfish approach gave White, Tatum and Brown plenty of opportunities to control the ball.
And his willingness to do all the so-called “little things” has been the driving force behind two of the last four NBA championships.
By the end of the Finals, Kyrie Irving’s numbers throughout the series were respectable: He was averaging 19.8 points and 5.0 assists while committing only 1.8 turnovers per game.
Many of Kyrie’s struggles can be chalked up to simply missing shots — that can happen to any star player in any game — but that wasn’t a coincidence for Kyrie against the Celtics.
With Dallas, he averaged 28.0 points while shooting 50.0% from the field and 41.7% from three-point range. With Boston, those numbers dropped to 14.3, 34.0 and 17.6, respectively.
Kyrie needed to be an absolute superstar for the Mavericks to have a chance to win this series, and he just wasn’t at that level on the road, with the Mavericks going 0-3 in that stretch.
Tatum may not have won Finals MVP, but he led the Celtics in points, rebounds and assists.
Even when his shooting wasn’t going his way in Games 1, 2 and 4, he was still impactful as a defender and playmaker.
And it’s not like his greatest strength went completely unplayed: Tatum scored 31 points for the second time in the series finale.
So while his 38.8% field goal percentage and 26.3% three-point percentage are certainly underwhelming, Tatum still averaged 22.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists en route to the Finals and championship.
It’s hard to complain too much about that.
Luka’s defense was a low-light reel topic during the series, and his attitude toward the league’s officials was the subject of harsh criticism from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst.
He attempted 9.0 three-pointers per game and shot just 24.4% from three-point range. His 5.6 assists per game were well below his career average. His turnovers were high at 4.6. He was disqualified in Game 3 after a questionable decision to try to charge after committing five fouls.
There’s plenty of legitimate criticism to be made of Doncic’s performance in the Finals, but the harsh reality is that he was playing against historically good teams and the supporting cast just wasn’t good enough to truly challenge Boston.
And when the Mavericks did get competitive, Luka was the catalyst, just as expected.
His 29.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists and 2.6 steals aren’t as good as the averages we’re used to seeing from him, including in the postseason, but this was the future legend’s first Finals appearance. Some growing pains were bound to happen.
Like Tatum, Brown struggled with his shot, shooting just 23.5 percent from 3-point range, but he was a worthy recipient of the Finals MVP trophy.
Brown averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game, including a 15-point third quarter in what may have been the deciding factor in the series in Game 3, when he showed off some impressive dunks and timely jump shots.
But his most important contributions in this series came on the defensive end.
Brown guarded Luka on over 150 possessions, more than double the number of times the Celtics did, and on those possessions Dallas had an offensive rating of just 84.8. For reference, the Mavericks scored 119.6 points per 100 possessions with Luka on the court in the regular season and 113.8 points in the playoffs.
Brown’s tenacity on the ball and focus off it completely disrupted one of the league’s best offenses and clearly affected one of the greatest offensive talents of all time.
In just the second final of his young career, Brown excelled in the exam despite missing a few shots.