The Celtics have been in a weird funk lately. They’re either blowing teams out or losing in soul-crushing fashion. This is a hilarious (painful) bit the team is playing on us.
While the team has been up and down, some Celtics players are finding their groove. Jrue Holiday is one of them. I understand that Jrue was public enemy number one for a couple of days after the brain explosion at the end of the Hawks game. I will admit I have had difficulty letting that one go myself. It’s hard to lose a basketball game up three points with the ball with less than 20 seconds to go.
Alas, one bad decision in a mid-January game does not erase how well Jrue has been playing lately and certainly doesn’t erase what he has done in his Celtics tenure.
That’s one of my favourite plays ever.
To Jrue’s credit, he did not let that Hawks play flow into the next game.
“We’re resilient. I think we take things seriously, even on our worst day we know that you have another chance to come out and play.”
It wasn’t an eye-popping box score against the Warriors, but Holiday’s 10 points on 5 shots in only 27 minutes was a factor in helping the Celtics dismantle Golden State by 40 points.
This has become the norm for Jrue Holiday. Since returning from a shoulder impingement that held Holiday out for a three-game stretch at the end of December, Jrue has been rock solid on both ends. Holiday has played in all 11 games since returning from injury; in those games, he is averaging 10 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, and 1.2 steals on 47% from the field and 41% from three in 30.5 minutes. If we compare this to his 23-24 season: 12.5 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 0.9 steals on 48% from the field and 43% from three in 32.8 minutes. The raw numbers are slightly down. However, that makes sense, as Holiday is playing 2.3 fewer minutes per game this season. This is the Jrue Holiday the Celtics need to make another run at the title.
“We expect greatness. I think sometimes other people expect some unrealistic expectations, but I think at the end of the day, we’re all mentally tough enough to be able to go out every game and do what we’re supposed to do.”
This stretch from Jrue Holiday makes me feel good about the Celtics’ direction. While the sting of the Hawks loss lingers for some (me), Jrue Holiday has been finding his groove and is a big reason why this team is trending in the right direction.
