How Jrue Holiday put Celtics ‘on his back’ in Game 1 win over Magic

Though his final stat line was unremarkable for a starting guard Jrue Holiday was one of the majority pivotal players on the floor Sunday in the Celtics postseason opener Holiday nine points five assists three rebounds three steals steered Boston at both ends during a dominant third quarter helping turn a one-point halftime deficit into a -point lead against the Orlando Magic The Celtics went on to win - at TD Garden to go up - in the first-round playoff series The Celtics scored points in the third and of them came on baskets Holiday either scored by going -for- from -point range or assisted on Defensively the -year-old grabbed two steals and helped limit Orlando to points in the quarter much of which he spent hounding Magic stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner That s the Jrue I love you know what I mean declared Jaylen Brown who was on the receiving end of a long-range fast-break lob from Holiday That s the Jrue I remember competing against Regular season is different from the playoffs I know sometimes y all forget that and think like it s the regular season but you can see his intensity level is a lot different You can see the physicality is a lot different so we just take it one meeting at a time But Jrue he loves the habitat just as much as I do You could see him picking up guys and blowing through screens and just making plays When we get that Jrue it s a good sign for us Related Articles Jayson Tatum explains injury scare after Celtics Championship win over Magic Derrick White powers Celtics past Magic as Boston takes Challenge Celtics-Magic preview How Boston Orlando match up in playoff series Jaylen Brown enters Celtics-Magic playoff series with no limitations Celtics chasing ghosts in bid for back-to-back NBA championships Head coach Joe Mazzulla credited Holiday with shifting momentum back toward Boston after Orlando controlled the second quarter He ramped up his defensive intensity and pushed the pace on offense with each of his third-quarter -pointers coming within three seconds of a steal or rebound After Wagner dribbled the ball off his foot minutes into the second half Holiday scooped up the loose ball and instantly launched a three in transition that put the Celtics ahead - They led by at least nine points for the rest of the event He was big-time both sides of the ball mentioned Derrick White who shot -for- from deep to lead the Celtics with points Taking on that challenge and just causing havoc and then offensively just making the right play every time He just does so much for our crew and just doesn t care about any of the numbers and whatnot It s great to have him as a teammate On the next two Orlando possessions Holiday blanketed Banchero on a missed midrange jumper and then denied a post entry to Wagner resulting in a Magic turnover A minute later he poked the ball away from Banchero fed a pass inside to a driving Jayson Tatum and after Tatum missed at the rim buried a second-chance three off a Brown offensive rebound His defense led to the offense Mazzulla declared When he s aggressive for us we re a different organization and it takes everybody to do that Tonight it started from his defense and he changed it for us Banchero and Wagner combined for points in the meeting but Orlando s -foot- centerpieces went -for- with four turnovers while being guarded by the -foot- Holiday He s an innate competitor and sometimes he takes a back seat because of the type of guys that we have Mazzulla noted I thought tonight he put the band on his back from that passion and emotion standpoint and that s why Jrue Holiday is Jrue Holiday So we re lucky to have him We re going to need that every single night But we do feed off his physicality and his presence This was the type of dirty-work performance the Celtics have come to expect from Holiday who as Mazzulla noted has sacrificed personal production to fit into Boston s star-studded lineup The three lowest points-per-game averages of his career have come in his rookie year in - and his two seasons with the Celtics He also had his second-lowest assist average this season trailing only his rookie mark But as he proved throughout Boston s championship run last spring the annual All-Defensive honoree has a penchant for making the subtle winning plays that are necessary for a group to succeed in the postseason I think I just take whatever opportunity comes to me whatever that might be Holiday commented We have enough talent on this squad where I don t necessarily take it upon myself but I think everybody has kind of that mentality where if I get a chance I m going to do whatever I can to carry the load So for me tonight it was defensively and trying to hound the ball and hopefully I continue to do that