BOSTON – If the rest of the league regrets two games of the NBA Finals, it’s a question the Milwaukee Bucks must ask themselves daily: How did we allow the Boston Celtics to acquire Jrue Holiday?
He was available with the Portland Trail Blazers for a moment when the Bucks passed on him in favor of Damian Lillard, and the Celtics pounced, dealing Malcolm Brogdon, Robert Williams III and two first-round draft picks on the eve of training camp. Nine months later, Holiday is a leading candidate for Finals MVP.
Two days shy of his 34th birthday, Holiday recorded team-highs of 26 points and 11 rebounds on Sunday night. He made 11 of his 14 shots. Defensively, he tied Kyrie Irving and Luka Dončić late, wearing them both down. He did all this in a 105-98 victory against the Dallas Mavericks in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, leading Boston to a 2-0 series lead.
“I credit him with winning tonight,” Celtics teammate Jaylen Brown said.
Jayson Tatum was the first to welcome Holiday to a team that had reached this stage two years earlier. Everyone else soon followed suit. All Celtics credit Holiday’s unselfishness — his willingness to accept a role smaller than his stature — for setting the tone that permeates the locker room. Win anything.
“He could have easily walked in and said, ‘I’m Jrue Holiday,'” said Celtics teammate Derrick White, who made the game-saving block on Sunday, “and I would have said, ‘Yes, you are. Jrue Holiday – 100%.'”
Instead, there was no ego and in its place were championship habits. Holiday was Milwaukee’s point guard and the primary ball blocker in the starting lineup. In Boston, he leaves point guard duties to White. He defers to Tatum and Brown, whom he calls “superstars.” He takes a backseat to Kristaps Porziņģis on some nights. Defensively, he defends every position, just like Marcus Smart, the man he replaced in Boston.
“I think when you sacrifice together and do something together,” Holiday said, “it brings you closer together.”
Again: How did every other NBA team allow this to happen? The Philadelphia 76ers and Los Angeles Clippers were among the main competitors for Holiday’s services, and both would have benefited greatly from his presence. No one in Boston wanted to see him land with the Miami Heat. Every prospect needed Jrue Holiday, and none of them stopped him from joining a Celtics team that needed exactly he.
“Jrue is a great teammate, nothing less,” Brown said. “He brings championship pedigree to our team. So nothing Jrue says we question. He just is who he is. He has that demeanor, that killer mentality, and we respect that. He’s a great teammate, and It’s an honor to play alongside him.”
What it looked like in Game 2 was smart basketball — Jrue Holiday basketball. The Mavericks tried to hide Irving on Holiday, so the Celtics guard took him to the dunk spot. There he expanded the offense twice. Irving couldn’t protect the rim as a help defender, and Holiday feasted on Tatum’s feeds. Six of Tatum’s game-high 12 assists found Holiday for 13 of his 26 points. That’s how the Celtics played a game on a night in which they missed their first eight 3-point attempts and finished 10 of 39 from distance.
“I know sometimes when I’m driving and I might get stuck, I need someone to float with me or to be in space and be in my vision,” Holiday said, describing how he plays with Tatum. “So I think for the most part, I just try to stay in front of him, give him a good out. He’s been making great reads.”
Well, that and a defense that held Dallas to 70 points over the final three quarters. Holiday has already guarded Irving and Dončić for 15 minutes this series, according to NBA tracking data. They have scored 13 points on 13 shots in that span, and the Mavs are scoring 84 points per 100 possessions – essentially the worst offense in modern NBA history – whenever Holiday is guarding one of his two best players.
“That experience, that championship DNA, that you hear about all the time,” White said, effusive in his praise of Holiday. “You don’t really know what it takes until you do what it takes. The moment he came to our team in training camp, he kind of had that presence. He just knows how to win.”
If there was one sequence on Sunday to sum up what the holiday means for the Celtics, it’s this:
The Mavericks had an opportunity to cut into Boston’s eight-point lead with four minutes remaining. Holiday, defending Dallas forward P.J. Washington, deflected a pass in the backcourt. He passed to Dončić, who had just a moment to avoid an eight-second violation. Holiday forced a bad pass, which White picked off, returning to Holiday, who delivered a 3-point dagger. On the next possession, Holiday forced a miss from Irving, grabbed an offensive rebound on the other end and found White for another 3.
The game was almost over and little did the Mavericks know what hit them. It was a holiday. He hit them – repeatedly. With crafty layup after crafty layup, a pair of 3s, three assists, a block, a steal, a little bit of it all.
That’s what Jrue Holiday does, a little bit of everything, and it’s all a luxury for a team that had no idea he would be available until the preseason began. What would these Celtics be without Holiday?
“Glad we don’t have to find out,” Tatum said. “We’re very, very lucky to have him.”
