Give it up for Jrue Holiday, everybody. He had a career game out there on the TD Garden floor tonight. He was an instrumental part of the Boston Celtics Game 1 win on Tuesday night. Holiday is seen as one of the less prominent starters. His 12.5 points per game this regular season was the lowest among the them.
Still, being the 5th best player on the Boston Celtics, the best team in the NBA still means something. It is a tough bar to be at. Jrue Holiday certainly earned his four-year $138 million contract extension he signed this April tonight. The former Milwaukee Buck was everywhere in Game 1.
Jrue Holiday’s Career Night
Jrue Holiday locking down Haliburton in OT was absolutely beautiful defense pic.twitter.com/kT8vKAlaFU
— Celtics Junkies (@Celtics_Junkies) May 22, 2024
Jrue Holiday had his premier performance as a Celtic so far tonight. He racked up 28 points, eight assists, seven rebounds, and three steals. While Holiday is not known as much of a high scorer for the Boston Celtics, he switched that up tonight. Even with his near 30-point performance, it’s Holiday’s defense that really shined.
His play of the night was when he played lockdown defense on Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton in overtime. In the backcourt, Holiday put the clamps on Haliburton and rattled him to the point where he lost control of the ball and it went out of bounds.
The sequence was made even sweeter when Jayson Tatum nailed a three on the ensuing possession to put the Celtics up four with 42.2 seconds to go. This defensive and offensive play gave the Boston Celtics great momentum in overtime.
Jrue Holiday also made two huge free throws to put the Celtics up six with 16.1 seconds to go. With fire in his feet on defense, he had ice in his veins to give the Celtics some cushion in overtime. While great offensive plays like Jaylen Brown hitting a contested three to tie the game with six seconds to go in the fourth quarter, solid defensive plays like Holiday’s get overlooked sometimes.
In addition to Jrue Holiday’s great defensive work, he recorded a lot of offensive rebounds, grabbing five. This is impressive from a guard, especially when he’s just 6’3. These hustle plays are what give the Boston Celtics an extra boost and more opportunities to score. These are the type of plays that Marcus Smart would make. It’s good to see that Jrue Holiday filled that role tonight in an important game.
Praise From Boston Celtics Head Coach
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Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla had some great things to say about Jrue Holiday in his postgame press conference:
His poise and his demeanor throughout the game was instrumental for us.
It’s the intangibles and mental fortitude that make the difference and separate a loser from a winner. Seeing Jrue Holiday on the court, he never looks to be too high or too low. He’s always very level-headed. He never seems to whine about a foul not being called like Tatum does sometimes. Jrue Holiday just goes out there and plays his game.
Stepping Up Big in Porzingis’ Absence
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With the Boston Celtics reportedly being without Kristaps Porzingis until Game 4, having players like Jrue Holiday step up will be monumental. The Celtics could certainly use high-scoring performances and key defensive plays from Holiday going forward in this series.
The 33-year-old from UCLA had a previous playoff high of 18 points. The rest of his performances this playoffs have been in that range. He has been good for 10+ points but not much more than that. As you could expect, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Derrick White account for a lot of the scoring. Jrue Holiday’s performance tonight upped the ante and put the Indiana Pacers on notice.
About The Author
Cooper Sherman is an avid NFL fan and enjoys watching and covering it the most. The NFL is king. He previously wrote and was a podcaster for the online publications Pro Sports Fanatics and Jersey Column. He is also an NBA fan and watches it occasionally, more when the NFL season ends. Tennis is also an underrated sport to watch. His teams are the Patriots and Celtics, as tough as it is to be a Patriots fan right now. He is optimistic that Jerod Mayo will turn this team in the right direction! Follow him on Instagram and Threads @coopstershermy456, and X/Twitter @justcoopthings.
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