Although the Boston Celtics have been playing at an elite level this season, some NBA fans might be surprised to hear that Jrue Holiday has been struggling on the offensive side of the floor. To those who might not be aware, Holiday was traded from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Boston Celtics this season and helped the team secure the best record across both conferences this season.
The Celtics are currently in the Eastern Conference semi-finals and are facing the Cleveland Cavaliers after defeating the Miami Heat in the first round of the playoffs. After the Celtics won Game 3 and took a 2-1 series lead on the Cavs, a report regarding Holiday’s scoring stats went viral. With that being said, fans may want to take a closer look and find out more on the subject.
Jrue Holiday has struggled to score in double digits in this year’s playoffs
Celtics fans who have been watching their team’s postseason push this season will know that Holiday has not contributed significantly on the offensive end of the floor for his team. Although he scored 18 points in the most recent Game 3, Holiday had scored in the double digits just 3 times in the 7 games prior to Game 3. Moreover, he was simply not efficient for the majority of those games.
Jrue Holiday in the 2024 playoffs:
4 points (2-7 FG)
14 points (6-14 FG)
10 points (3-5 FG)
11 points (4-10 FG)
3 points (1-5 FG)
9 points (4-12 FG)
6 points (2-8 FG) pic.twitter.com/c0OHlLl6Wk— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 10, 2024
Since there were also a few games where Holiday scored 3, 4, and 6 points, it is clear that he is in some form of a shooting slump. Despite having an inefficient point guard, the Celtics are currently dominating the Eastern Conference and are expected to make the NBA Finals this season.
While one might assume that the Celtics fanbase is giving Jrue a hard time over his stats so far, this notion could not be further from the truth. In fact, praise for the NBA veteran is still significantly higher when compared to the criticism.
Is Holiday the best defender on the Boston Celtics?
Although the modern NBA is more offensively oriented, there is no getting around the fact that half the game is played defensively for any team. In that domain, Holiday has been playing at an elite level all season long. In fact, one could make the argument that he is the best defender on the Celtics and undoubtedly their best perimeter defender.
While others such as Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis are known to be good defenders, Jrue Holiday is on a level of his own and is tasked with the responsibility of stopping the best guards from the other team. Therefore, his poor scoring numbers are due to the fact that he is exerting a lot more energy on the defensive end and helping his team get much-needed stops throughout the stretches of games.