Thanks to their tidy five-game series win over the Orlando Magic, the Celtics will enjoy a five-day break before returning to the court for the Eastern Conference semifinals.
That layoff comes at an ideal time for Jrue Holiday,
After playing 69 total minutes over the first two games of Boston’s opening-round series, Holiday missed the final three with what the team called a right hamstring strain. The Celtics ruled him out a day before Games 4 and 5, suggesting the veteran guard was not close to returning for those contests.
Whether he’ll be fit to do so when the East semis tip off next Monday remains to be seen.
“He’s day to day,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said Wednesday on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Zolak & Bertrand. “He’s working his ass off to get back there for us, and it’s good that we were able to kind of take care of business to give guys extra time to rest. But he’s working as hard as he can to get back. He’s day to day, and he’ll continue to get better.”
The Celtics were able to dispatch the overmatched Magic without Holiday, who had not missed a playoff game since 2015 before his recent string of DNPs. But players and coaches from both teams acknowledged the significance of his absence.
Fellow Boston guard Derrick White said the team “honestly … can’t replace what Jrue Holiday brings on both sides of the ball.” Mazzulla said the 34-year-old’s “intangibles are endless,” not to mention “the physicality and the toughness and defensive versatility” and his ability to “just make winning plays.” To Orlando head coach Jamahl Mosley, the Celtics looked “majorly different” without Holiday in the lineup.
“He adds so many small, intangible things to this team,” Mosely said before Game 5 on Tuesday. “One, his toughness, his resolve on the court. He never gets rattled. He blows up all the things you’re trying to run offensively, defensively. He finds different ways.”
Holiday, a first- or second-team All-Defensive selection in six of the last seven seasons, is best known for his skills at that end of the court, which he used to effectively harass Magic stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner early in the series. He’s not always asked to contribute much offensively on a Celtics team that boasts a bevy of scoring threats, but Boston is at its most dangerous when he does.
In Game 1 against Orlando, Holiday scored or assisted on seven of his team’s 10 made field goals during a dominant third quarter, helping propel Boston to a 103-86 victory after it trailed at halftime. He “put the team on his back,” Mazzulla said, with impact plays at both ends.
The Celtics are 31-3 this season when Holiday scores at least 10 points and 17-1 when he makes at least three 3-pointers.
“What Jrue does for us, it’s elite,” Al Horford said after Game 5. “The impact that he has on our team, you can’t measure it.”
The importance of that impact will grow as the playoffs progress and the quality of competition cranks up. During last year’s Celtics championship run, Holiday’s production steadily increased over the first three rounds, peaking during his stellar Eastern Conference finals against Indiana:
First round vs. Miami: 7.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.8 steals, 35.0% shooting, 36.8% on 3-pointers
East semis vs. Cleveland: 13.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.0 steals, 51.0% shooting, 40.0% on 3-pointers
East finals vs. Indiana: 18.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 58.7% shooting, 41.7% on 3-pointers
NBA Finals vs. Dallas: 14.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 0.6 steals, 53.6% shooting, 42.1% on 3-pointers
Mazzulla, who tends to be tight-lipped about Celtics injury information, has not indicated whether he expects to have Holiday back for the East semis. That series tips off next Monday against the New York Knicks or Detroit Pistons.
“I know Jrue’s a tough guy, and I know he’ll do whatever it takes to put himself and our team in the best position to win, and also do what’s best for him, by him,” Mazzulla said on 98.5. “So he’s getting better and better each day, and we’ll see how he progresses.”