Jrue Holiday Not Ecstatic With Joe Mazzulla’s Philosophy On Blowing Leads

The Boston Celtics flirted with disaster when their 20-point lead dwindled in the third quarter against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night.

Head coach Joe Mazzulla said he sometimes likes seeing his team blow big leads, but not all of his players are quite on board.

“It’s just kind of … a learning experience,” Celtics guard Jrue Holiday told reporters after Boston’s win, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “Go got to be battled tested. We got to be able to fight through everything. Fight through expectations. Fight through being up 20 and someone having a great third quarter and then finishing games.”

Holiday added: “If it was easy the whole time, then … I mean what’s the fun in that, right? I don’t like blowing leads like that, but I think being able to battle back and win those is huge for us.”

Holiday shot 75% from the field dropping six of his eight shots for 17 points in 39 minutes. He collected four rebounds, blocked three shots and recorded one steal in the Celtics win.

Kristaps Porzingis credited the Celtics stars for elevating their defense to seal the win over the Pacers.

With the win, the Celtics improved to 22-2 at home and 37-11 overall. They’ll put their NBA-best record to the test again when they host LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers at TD Garden on Thursday night.