Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday has taken a sacrificial backseat in the scoring department this season, but can still find the net when necessary.
That rang true during Monday night’s 105-96 victory over the Raptors, the fourth of the campaign to close out the Boston-Toronto season series — sending the Celtics to the winners column for the second straight time.
Holiday scored a season-best 22 points while shooting 7-of-14 with six rebounds and seven assists, knocking down four critical 3-pointers. The 33-year-old, best known for his defense, identified the need to take a step forward with offensive aggression and it paid off for the Celtics.
“I felt like it was needed,” Holiday said postgame, per NBC Sports Boston. “I just took the opportunities that were given to me and we were just trying to be aggressive on both ends of the floor.”
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Holiday added: “We’re really good at figuring out when we can go, and let that person go, and start getting buckets.”
An encouraging step for Holiday, who entered the contest averaging 10.9 shot attempts per game — the fewest averaged since Holiday’s third NBA season — with 12.8 points. Spotting a picture-perfect chance to remind everyone that like the rest of Boston’s starting five, Holiday too can be leaned on for scoring.
That’s a notable leap amid what’s been a transition in Holiday’s debut year with the Celtics this season, following a three-year run with the Milwaukee Bucks.
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In the fourth quarter, Holiday stumped Toronto’s 8-0 run by draining a contested 3-pointer to extend Boston’s lead to 97-88 with six minutes remaining. Holiday spotted teammate Kristaps Porzingis inside the perimeter and used the 7-foot-3 center as an inadvertent screen to find enough space to take the critical late-game shot.
“He’s just learning how to affect the game differently,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s postgame coverage. “You can see him getting more comfortable and comfortable on both ends of the floor. I thought he did that tonight.”
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Throughout Boston’s prior 39 games, Holiday’s established his defensive impact, establishing an NBA-best tandem on that end of the floor with fellow guard Derrick White. But on Monday night, the two took turns draining baskets in Toronto, combining to score 44 points.
Mazzulla noted that Holiday’s adjustment to a stacked Celtics roster is similar to White’s when Boston acquired him from the San Antonio Spurs in 2022.
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More important than aiming for double figures or an All-Star case, Holiday quickly settled in as a valuable piece of a Boston team that’s complied an NBA-best 31-9 record, including an undefeated 19-0 run at home. Ultimately, having that version of Holiday is more significant for what the Celtics are looking to accomplish more than anything else — winning the NBA Finals.
That’s exactly what Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens envisioned when trading away Malcolm Brogdon and Robert Williams III to the Portland Trailblazers, to acquire Holiday, this past offseason.
Another night of Stevens’ offseason work coming to life.
Featured image via John E. Sokolowski/USA TODAY Sports Images
