Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Celtics' Loss to Knicks Extends New NBA Champion Record

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Ishaan Bhattacharya | Last updated May 17, 2025 9:42 AM ET

The Boston Celtics' bid to retain their crown as NBA Champions ended in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last night, as the New York Knicks picked up a 119-81 win in Game 6 and eliminated the Celtics.

This loss will throw the franchise into a tricky offseason with expected changes as the Celtics face a record-shattering luxury tax bill.

The Celtics didn't care about the cost of retaining their championship core after their dominant 2024 NBA Finals triumph last season. They hoped to break a long drought of NBA champions failing to defend their title. The last team to successfully do so was the 2018 Golden State Warriors, following up their 2017 triumph with another title.

Since 2018, we've seen different champions take the crown every season. The Toronto Raptors, Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Warriors, Denver Nuggets, and Boston Celtics have won championships, but each failed to defend their title. That's seven straight years, matching a similar drought the league saw from 2003 to 2009.

The 2019 Warriors, who lost to the Raptors in the Finals, were the last champions to return to the Finals. The Celtics were unable to match them in that feat this year.

The longest similar drought in the NBA came from 2003 to 2009, the years in between Kobe Bryant's third and fourth title, with 2010 being his fifth and the first successful defense since the Lakers' three-peat winning title in 2002.

The league saw all champions from 1987 to 2002 defend their title at least once, except the 1999 San Antonio Spurs. This is a new era of parity, which is even greater than what we saw for a majority of the 2000s.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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