Jayson Tatum was certain that he’d be a champion before reaching the 2024 NBA Finals.
The Boston Celtics star revealed that the team knew a title was coming after the Denver Nuggets, the 2023 champions, lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.
“People always ask me, when did you guys know you were going to win a championship?” Tatum said, per Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe. “When Minnesota beat Denver, I felt like Denver was the only team that they matched up best with us. I thought that we were going to play Denver in the Finals and it was going to be a good one.”
The Celtics ended up facing off against the Dallas Mavericks instead, jumping out to an early 3-0 series lead before securing the franchise’s 18th championship in five games.
Tatum’s confidence after Denver was eliminated likely stemmed from the fact that the Mavericks lost both of their games against the Celtics during the regular season. In fact, Boston’s last regular-season loss to Dallas occurred in March 2022.
In addition to winning 57 games, the Nuggets also emerged victorious in both matchups with Boston during the 2023-24 season. While the Celtics boast elite perimeter defenders such as Jrue Holiday and Derrick White, they couldn’t find an answer for Nikola Jokić in the post.
Jokić, who has won three of the last four MVP awards, was dominant against Boston. He averaged 33 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists per game on 61/50/100 shooting splits in two wins over the Celtics during his 2023-24 campaign (via Basketball Reference).
Boston and Denver are both expected to compete for a title once again during the 2024-25 season and could clash in the 2025 NBA Finals.
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