After a “masterclass” in Game 3, the Celtics stars gushed about Jrue Holiday.
Over the years, Jrue Holiday has gained the respect of his teammates almost everywhere he has gone. Naturally, the Celtics should be included in that list as well, as Holiday has thus far lived up to expectations. Holiday hasn’t had a particularly successful offensive season, but that’s because he’s given up shots and a bigger role to help the team.
However, Holiday acknowledged that was a deliberate choice when he scorched for 15 points in the first half of Saturday’s Game 3. In an effort to force Donovan Mitchell to play defense as well as offense, Holiday became more aggressive and packed the scoreboard. According to Jaylen Brown, “Jrue is a dawg.” “I have nothing but praise for Jrue. He arrived and immediately took control of the ball on both sides. Simply created timely baskets. That is the Jrue Holiday that we are familiar with, adore, and compete against. Jrue gave a master lesson tonight. What a show he puts on.”
Despite not being a prolific scorer this season, Holiday is still one of the league’s top defenders, so the team doesn’t need him in that role. On Saturday, he disrupted the Cavaliers and Mitchell on other possessions while occasionally matching up against Evan Mobley. Holiday hWith a 2-1 series lead against the Cavaliers in the East semifinals, the Celtics will need more of that Holiday. Although the C’s defense struggled in the second game, they recovered to limit Cleveland to just 93 points in the third game. With the exception of Mitchell and Mobley, the Cavs struggled to score, and Holiday played a significant role in that equation.
Tatum remarked, “Jrue is kind of the glue that keeps us all together. He was amazing tonight.” He truly gives his all for us, making sacrifices and even shooting single digits a few games in a row at times. He can clearly post up men on a night when he can attack the mismatches. ad a fantastic second quarter, particularly with Jayson Tatum sitting out after a brilliant start.
