Lucky the Leprechaun still has the touch: History was made as the Boston Celtics won the 2023-24 National Basketball Association title, their first championship in 18 years.  Led by high-scoring Jason Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the “Celts” rampaged to a league-best 64-18 record before defeating the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA finals – which marked the Boston’s 18^th league title, extending their all-time record for championships. You can re-live what turned out to be an epic season with Strat-O-Matic’s 2023-24 basketball cards, which will be released release this fall; see if your coaching acumen can dethrone this superb Celtics squad.

Indeed, Tatum (26.9 PPG in the regular season and finals MVP) and Brown (23.0 PPG) were only  two factors for this deep Boston squad. The team rampaged through the regular season before blasting its way through each round of the playoffs, taking down the Mavericks 4-1 in the finals. Also enjoying enjoyed fine seasons for Boston were  big man Kristaps Porzingus (20.1 PPG) and defensive stalwarts Derrick White and Jrue Holiday (both receiving second All-Defensive Team honors). The Celtics are stacked and could be title contenders for seasons to come.

Big men and big stats always whet the appetites of serious Strat fans: Nikola Jokic of Denver earned his third NBA MVP Award, and it wasn’t hard to figure why: The 6’11” superstar wowed once again with 26.4 PPG and 12.4 RPG as he continues his dominance at center.  Domantas Sabonis of Sacramento crashed the boards for a league-best 13.8 RPG. Center Daniel Gafford, who played for Washington and Dallas, logged a preposterous .725 field goal percentage (third best in NBA history).  Luca Doncic of Dallas lead the league in scoring with a robust 33.0 PPG, while both Giannis Antetokounmpo of Milwaukee and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of Oklahoma City averaged above 30 points per contest. Can you top these amazing stats with your Strat coaching skills?

If dishing and defense are your thing, you can serve up stats with Strat: Guard Tyrese Haliburton of Indiana was the league’s top passer with 10.9 assists per game.  De’Aaron Fox of Sacramento was steals leader with an even 2.0 per contest. Center Victor Wembanyama of San Antonio logged 254 blocked shots (3.6 BPG) to earn Rookie of the Year honors. Even with that, Rudy Gobert’s 12.9 RPG and 2.7 BPG earned the Minnesota star his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award.

Even with the Celtics’ dominance, it was a year of surprises: New York emerged as a force once again in the Eastern Conference, led by clutch guard Jalen Brunson (28.7 PPG, 6.7 APG); only Boston and New York won 50 games or more in the regular season. Philadelphia was once again a playoffs force, led by center Joel Embiid (34.7 PPG in an injury-marred season). Giannis Antetokounmpo (30.4 PPG) and Damian Lillard (30.4 PPG) and (24.3 PPG) formed a dynamic one-two punch for Milwaukee.

Of course, what’s any league without veteran stars: LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers seemed ageless, logging 25.7 PPG in his remarkable 21^st season. At age 38, legendary guard Chris Paul – who logged the second-best assist-to-turnover ratio in the league (5.17) – contributed greatly for Golden State in his 19^th season before signing with San Antonio. Steph Curry of Golden State (20.6 PPG) remains a dominant scoring force after 15 campaigns. See if you can lead any of these stars to even more prolific numbers as you take to your board game or laptop for Strat hoops action.

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