ATLANTA - It was pure jubilation for Marietta native Jaylen Brown and former Atlanta Hawks star Al Horford as they helped the Boston Celtics capture their 18th championship on Monday night with a106-88 win over the Dallas Mavericks at a raucous TD Garden in Boston.

Brown, who was drafted by the Celtics No. 3 overall in 2016, won the Bill Russell NBA Finals MVP award, finishing with 21 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The 27-year-old averaged 20.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and five assists throughout the series and has been a vocal, and physical leader in the Celtics locker room. The former Wheeler High School star also won the Larry Bird Eastern Conference Finals MVP Award.

“It was a full team effort. I share this with my brothers and my partner in crime, Jayson Tatum,” Brown said after the game.

“As of right now, I’m still going through the motions to process the Celtics winning their 18th championship in franchise history,” Boston Celtics fan and Massachusetts resident Brian Babz told WSB Radio. “To me, I knew this was wrapped up after Game 3 and I was at the Tom Brady Hall of Fame event at Gillette Stadium that night. That was my celebration night. Yes, premature, but it was locked up. I think it’ll really hit me in reality once I’m at the parade this Friday.”

Horford also secured his first championship in his 17-year NBA tenure. He finished with nine points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals in Game 5 and averaged 9.5 points, 7.1 rebounds during the playoff run. The 38-year-old previously had the second longest NBA career without winning a championship.

Drafted No. 3 overall by the Atlanta Hawks in 2007, Horford spent nine seasons in Atlanta before he joined the Celtics in 2016. Horford has spent seven of the last eight seasons with the Celtics. The fan-favorite has been one of the most pivotal leaders on and off the court for the Celtics and helped mentor younger stars such as Brown, Jayson Tatum, and others.

“The great debate can now start, will Al Horford get his number retired with the Boston Celtics? Big Al started his time in Atlanta and was an early foe for the Celtics during a playoff meetup,” said Babz. “Eventually he came to the Celtics for three seasons to usher in a new era. After adjustments made, he left, but the team knew he was the glue guy to win a championship.

“He is a huge reason why the Celtics went to two finals in three seasons, and he took on a bigger role this postseason when KP (Kristaps Porzingis) went down with an injury. Horford was doing things a 38-year-old in the NBA might not be able to do. Boston was lucky to have Al and his legacy is cemented with us.”

Since 2001, Boston has captured the most world champions across the four major sports teams, the New England Patriots, Boston Celtics, Boston Red Sox and Boston Bruins, with 13 total. Breaking a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers, the Celtics have the most NBA Finals championships with 18.

“What a euphoric moment for the city of Boston last night,” Celtics fan Yanni Yaitanes of Pembroke, Mass. told WSB Radio. “After years of looking at the finish line, the Boston Celtics have finally crossed it. Although this was a team effort, no one deserves this ring more than Al Horford. It has been a long time coming for Horford, who played in 186 playoff games without a ring, the 2nd most in NBA history. It was heartwarming to see him hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy up finally.”

“Jaylen Brown winning the NBA Finals MVP award was a great sight to see,” Yaitanes said. “When the clock struck zeroes, I couldn’t stop dancing and screaming in front of my TV. It’s been a long time coming.”

Yaitanes runs a fan page called Boston Bean Sports on Instagram and said he was ecstatic when the game ended and the Celtics won.

Babz, who runs an Instagram page called Babz on The Mic, told WSB Radio that he joined his friend and fellow Celtics fanatic KJ Green, best known as Green Runs Deep to create watch parties for Celtics fans in 2022. The pair has hosted watch parties at Big Night Live, located just steps away from TD Garden. Babz said the watch party for Game 5 sold out in just under two hours.

“We’ve built these up so much because of the Celtics community that’s hungry to come out and support their team. We struck when the iron was hot. Two title appearances in three years with our watch parties. The vibes felt like we were inside the arena itself. I’ll never forget it.”

“There should be no debate whatsoever on what city has the title of, ‘city of champions’ now. Boston was and will always be title town,” Yaitanes said.