“Wow, Can He Really Do What He Says?”, Larry Bird Bold Claims on

When Payton Pritchard’s halfcourt shot swished through the net at the halftime buzzer on Monday night, Celtics fans worldwide had the same thought: “We’re winning this game.”

Every Finals has a defining moment, the shot that serves as the exclamation point on a championship victory. In Monday’s Game 5 rout of the Mavericks, that moment came early, though sometimes the win isn’t secured until the final moments.

Regardless, the Celtics have now won five championships since 1981, each marked by its own memorable basket that instantly comes to mind when recalling that magical clinching night.