After Boston dropped a Christmas Day stinker to the 76ers and an uninspiring effort to the Pacers, the Celtics got Jrue Holiday for the start of 2025. They’re now on a three-game winning streak including winning their first two against the Western Conference’s best, and while it hasn’t all been about the 34-year-old’s presence, he’s been awesome so far in his return.
After missing three games with a shoulder impingement, Holiday has come back strong in three straight Celtics wins. Against the Rockets on Friday night on the second half of a back-to-back, he scored 14 points (2-of-5 from behind the arc), grabbed four rebounds, and dished out three assists. After going through a shooting slump to start the year, he’s now hit nine of his last 17 three-pointers.
But it’s not always about the numbers for mathematician and head coach Joe Mazzulla.
“In order for us to be dynamic, Jrue has to be dynamic and aggressive on the offensive end,” Mazzulla said of Holiday matching Houston’s physicality to start the game. “So, I loved that he came out the way that he did.”
After the game, Mazzulla point out a small burst of that aggressiveness to illustrate his point.
“We need him to be on both ends. There was a play in the second quarter that nobody — well, now they will because I’m going to mention it — there was a transition defense clip and he took off on a dead sprint, DEAD SPRINT — that to me was the highlight of the game. The guy missed a layup or Derrick go the block, but that play was the highlight of the game and what he’s able to do. That stuff doesn’t go unnoticed.”
If you catch the tail end of the clip, you’ll see what Mazzulla is talking about. As soon as Holiday gives up the turnover to Dillon Brooks, he doesn’t drop his head or sulk. He takes off like a starter gun just went off in a 100-meter dash.
White eventually gets the block for Boston’s Stock Exchange back court, but it’s that psycho effort from Holiday that enamors the veteran to his head coach. He’d later get his own rejection off an end-of-shot-clock three from Jeff Green later in the third.
