Mickey Togs

For the 18th time in franchise history, the Boston Celtics are NBA champions.

The Celtics closed the first quarter of Monday’s NBA Finals Game 5 on a 9-0 run and never looked back en route to a dominant 106-88 win over the Dallas Mavericks. The win secured a 4-1 win in the NBA Finals and the franchise’s first title since 2008.

The Celtics set the tone from the opening tip as they took the floor for the first time in these Finals wearing their classic green jerseys. They proceeded to put on a performance worthy of those colors. It was also worthy of a team that rolled to an NBA-best 64 wins in the regular season and produced advanced metrics that rank among the best in league history.

They did it on Monday with defense. They did it with 3s. They did it with stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown leading the way. It was an optimal conclusion to the Celtics season.

Gerrit Cole made his return to the mound in a rehab start Tuesday at Double-A Somerset and looked like his old self.

Cole threw 3 innings against the Hartford Yard Goats, allowing zero runs, no walks and two hits and striking out five.

The New York Yankees ace threw 45 pitches, which was right in line with the 40-50 Somerset manager Raul Dominguez planned to hold Cole to heading into the game. Of those 45 pitches, 34 went for strikes, and his fastball sat between 94 and 96 mph.

“It felt really great to get back out there, get back in the flow of things, get some adrenaline,” Cole said afterward.

Cole, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, hasn’t pitched for the Yankees this season after being shut down during spring training due to right elbow inflammation.

Aaron Judge hit his major league-leading 25th home run with a 436-foot, two-run drive into the fountain behind the center-field seats, and the New York Yankees routed the Kansas City Royals 10-1 on Tuesday night for their 11th win in 14 games.

Giancarlo Stanton followed Judge in the seventh with a 446-foot shot to center against reliever Nick Anderson for his 16th home run of the season. Austin Wells hit a three-run homer in a four-run fourth off starter Brady Singer.

Back in the lineup after his first game off this season, Judge hit his 21st homer in his last 41 games and also singled in New York’s first run. Judge raised his average to .309 and is hitting .419 with 44 RBI in his last 35 games after batting .197 through May 2.

“I’m trying not to take that for granted. It’s a lot of fun to witness and to watch what he’s doing on a nightly basis,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said.