The Boston Celtics coach had high praise for Jrue Holiday following Game 4 of the second-round series with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
There are times when players don’t tend to explode until certain games when they find the opportunities to seize.
For one series, they might not be putting up a lot of points, rebounds, and assists. Then the following series would come around, and that same player would see themselves become more involved, seeing a huge uptick in statistical production.
This is the case for Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday, who hasn’t had the best stat lines this postseason for the team, but has stepped up when needed. In Games 3 and 4 against the Cleveland Cavaliers, his impact on the court was undeniable.
Holiday hasn’t been too involved with putting up numbers as he would have in prior postseasons.
With the Celtics boasting a lot of offense, this reduced the workload Holiday had as he transitioned from his stint with the Milwaukee Bucks. This allowed him to focus on defense as his specialty, while providing timely three-pointers for the offense.
Heading into Game 4, he was averaging 9.4 points, five rebounds, four assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game. This is a significant decrease from the 17.9 points, 7.9 assists, 5.8 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks throughout the three postseasons he took part in with the Bucks.
The statistical regression may look concerning on the surface level, but his efficiency has benefited from not having to be a main scoring option for the Celtics. He is shooting 37.5 percent from downtown on four attempts per game, a seven percent improvement from how he shot in the playoffs with Milwaukee.
And recently, he has stepped up to the plate with Boston needing different options to keep their opponents guessing, especially against Cleveland in the second round.
In Game 3, he recorded 18 points, eight rebounds, and five assists on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc. In Game 4, he kept it up with 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three steals on 6-of-11 shooting overall and 4-of-8 from three, making timely shots when the Celtics needed to separate themselves from Cleveland.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla praised Holiday for getting more involved in the offense recently. During the postgame press conference after the 109-102 win in Game 4, Mazzulla said the team becomes different when Holiday, Derrick White, and the bench are in rhythm throughout the game.
