The Boston Celtics are the Baskin-Robbins of the NBA: They have 31 flavors of victory.
Don’t quote me on the exact number of ways they can win games, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we got close to that number somehow. Even on these less-than-appealing nights, the Celtics can often find a path to a win.
The Celtics have a lot guys who are built to score points, so it might be easy to overlook the one guy on the roster whose main job is to prevent the other team from matching them.
Jrue Holiday stepped to the front of the line on Friday night in Miami. Maybe he is immune to the Miami flu, or maybe he just felt he needed to atone for a rough night against the Thunder, but Holiday delivered a reminder that he is still quite capable of being an offensive threat.
“They quickly forget about a two-time All-Star, two-time Olympian, two-time champion,” Jayson Tatum said. “He’s been in the league, it’s gotta be year 15, maybe 14? And still playing at a high level and one of the key guys on a championship team.”
It's actually year 16, which is part of why people forget. He doesn’t do what he used to when he was Tatum’s age. Back then, Holiday averaged around 20 points per game in New Orleans. He’s down to half that this season. And the 25 points he scored in Miami was the most he’s scored as a Celtic.
He did that 21 times in 2019, when he averaged a career-best 21 points per game. This game in Miami was the 134th time in Holiday’s career that he’s scored at least 25. We’re coming up on the two-year anniversary of Holiday’s career-high, a 51-point performance on March 29, 2023 for Milwaukee.
It’s not like he forgot how to score. He just doesn’t need to as much anymore.
“It’s always nice to throw them at the rim a little more than usual,” Holiday told reporters after the game. “I think sometimes you get to get into your bag a little bit deeper. But I’ve been playing in the league a long time, so I know it’s there. But I feel like on this team, we have so much talent, on any given night, anything can happen.”
We’ve seen the team be carried by Tatum and Jaylen Brown. We’ve seen Payton Pritchard and Derrick White go off, including White's monster fourth quarter to put Miami away in this game. Al Horford has been defying his age lately. And Sam Hauser recently took a turn in the spotlight.
In a way, the past couple of weeks have been a little bit of a flex by the Celtics, showing the full depth of their offensive prowess. This was Boston’s 18th game where multiple players made at least five 3-pointers, but it was the first involving Holiday.
“Tonight, the ball found him early, and I'm glad he was aggressive and then he was able to build through that,” Joe Mazzulla said. “I thought he made some timely plays and some big-time plays. And I'm really happy for him, because he does get overlooked at times, but we're really grateful to have him.”
They're especially grateful to have him on the floor despite the injury to his right pinky finger. Holiday, and the entire city of Boston for that matter, was introduced to the term “mallet finger” after a freak accident fighting for a rebound. Now he’s playing with a splint on his shooting hand, which his still an adjustment both from a comfort and a pain perspective.
“I take drugs, so it works out,” Holiday joked. “I just think sometimes when the adrenaline kicks in and you're out there playing, it doesn't really matter. Nobody else cares that it might hurt or whatever, so I try to think that way too.”
Big scoring nights for a player like Holiday feels like a cosmic reward for him being selfless. He has taken fewer than 10 shots in 31 games this season, and he’s averaging less than 10 for the first time since his rookie season. Holiday epitomizes the sacrifice necessary to win a championship. As Tatum said, Holiday is one of the league’s more accomplished and respected players, but he carries himself with incredible professionalism and focus on the ultimate goal.
“I've always tried to do that,” Holiday said. “But when you have a team that's talented, and you see guys in their prime or right before the prime, or whatever, yeah, you want to get a chance to show what you have, but those opportunities will come. Sometimes winning, or getting a chance to win, doesn't come as often. So take advantage of it while you have it.”