Tatum and Brown still need one more season-defining win to finish off Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving and the Dallas Mavericks — and the rolling Celtics have four potential games left to collect that huge victory.
But if Boston does its job in Game 4 on Friday night in Dallas, it’s over.
The Celtics will be world champions for the 18th time in franchise history.
Even more impressive is the fact that Tatum, Brown and their current teammates will have accomplished something that not even Larry Bird could achieve during Boston’s 1980s dynasty.
Bird made 12 All-Star teams, won three NBA MVP awards and collected three shining championship trophies.
So placing Tatum above Bird in Celtics history is foolish right now.
But as good as Larry the Legend was — and he was great, as evidenced by a perfect 6-0 record against Michael Jordan in the playoffs — Bird never won it all with a perfect sweep.
The current Celtics are just one win away from achieving that in Game 4 and edging past Bird’s best teams.
