{"id":43943,"date":"2025-03-17T09:28:30","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T09:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=43943"},"modified":"2025-03-17T09:28:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T09:28:30","slug":"how-jrue-holidays-shooting-struggles-could-impact-celtics-playoff-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=43943","title":{"rendered":"How Jrue Holiday\u2019s Shooting Struggles Could Impact Celtics Playoff Run"},"content":{"rendered":"
Jrue Holiday scored a season-high 25 points against the Heat then dished 12 assists in a win over the Nets, the Celtics now aware he could be more involved.<\/div>\n
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Jrue Holiday\u2019s\u00a0<\/strong>arrival during the week of training camp cemented the Celtics\u2019 2024 championship. His ability to take a step back in his role while still hitting threes, making passes and defending multiple positions made Boston\u2019s starting five unguardable. They had no weak links defenses could expose.<\/p>\n

That changed into 2024-25 after the Celtics signed him to a four-year extension in April. Holiday\u2019s shooting stats regressed in the first half, he missed time with more rest and management of various injuries before opponents tried taking advantage of what could become the greatest difference between this year\u2019s Boston run and last. The Celtics have a Holiday conundrum that could impact them in the most difficult matchups that\u2019ll determine if they repeat this spring.<\/p>\n

Holiday showed he\u2019ll be fine against most opponents with 25 points at Miami on Friday, shooting 10-for-15, his first time breaking 20 since the Grizzlies allowed him to shoot 26 times in a Memphis win. The Celtics started the season 19-4 prior to that loss, looking on track to roll through the season like they did one year ago, but Taylor Jenkins\u00a0tried the most straightforward path to derailing Boston\u2019s daunting offense. Holiday entered the game shooting 34.3% from three, so why not force him to take the Celtics\u2019 shots? It worked in a 127-121 win.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bold strategy,\u201d Joe Mazzulla<\/strong> said that night. \u201cHe\u2019s an all-star. He shoots over 40% from three. That\u2019s a risky one and I thought he handled it great.\u201d<\/p>\n

Few recreated that masterstroke since, despite Holiday\u2019s struggles continuing at 42.9% from the field and 33.3% from three over 30 games between Boston\u2019s loss to the Grizzlies and their letdown against the Thunder on Wednesday. Then, Oklahoma City used Holiday\u2019s positioning in the corner to manipulate the Celtics\u2019 offense, pinching in defenders from the wings to hinder Jaylen Brown <\/strong>and Jayson Tatum\u2019s <\/strong>access to the paint. Holiday didn\u2019t receive many opportunities to beat the Thunder early, despite the corner\u2019s availability, and he finished 1-for-7\u00a0 from the field.<\/p>\n

The timing worked out. Boston used their weekend back-to-back to involve Holiday more than they had all season with multiple starters missing. After his season-best outbreak over the Heat, Holiday stepped into a point guard role during the concerning minutes with Brown injured and Tatum\u00a0<\/strong>off the floor at the start of the fourth quarter in Brooklyn one night later. He fed\u00a0Neemias Queta\u00a0<\/strong>with an alley-oop, hit\u00a0Kristaps Porzi\u0146\u0123is\u00a0<\/strong>in the pocket for a three-point play as the Nets rallied and stepped into his own mid-ranger on the ball to stay ahead by seven points after the Nets hit four threes at the start of the quarter.<\/p>\n

Holiday finished the game with 12 assists, tying his most in a Celtics uniform. With\u00a0Derrick White\u00a0<\/strong>out, he took over as point guard, and Brooklyn couldn\u2019t ignore him with the ball in his hands.<\/p>\n

The Celtics created a problem by relegating Holiday to corner shooter, but Saturday\u2019s win showed they can rectify it with plenty of time for experimentation late in the schedule. Last year, threes made up 47% of his field goal attempts and with fewer opportunities overall, they\u2019re now 55.4%, adding greater variance to his output.<\/p>\n

Alongside injuries, likely fatigue from his long postseason and Olympics run, whether Holiday made or missed shots increasingly determined whether he impacted the game offensively. Mazzulla mentioned after the Miami win that he\u2019s much more than that as a player, but it took unique circumstances to return Holiday to a more empowered role.<\/p>\n

Talking on\u00a098.5 The Sports Hub\u2019s\u00a0<\/em>pregame show, Mazzulla said when asked if he needed to encourage Holiday\u2019s aggression that he instead checks on Holiday and asks if they\u2019re doing enough for him.<\/p>\n

The answer to this point in the season has been no<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been playing in the league for a long time, so I know it\u2019s there,\u201d Holiday told reporters in Miami. \u201cBut playing on this team, they have so much talent, on any given night, anything can happen. So J.B. and K.P. were out, I got a chance to see the ball go in and hopefully I can continue.\u201d<\/p>\n

In last week\u2019s Thunder loss, Holiday shot missed all four threes. Despite Oklahoma City allowing the most corner looks per game to opponents this season, Boston attempted one in the first half and didn\u2019t respond to the Thunder defenders leaving their assignments with cuts to the basket. While the Celtics rank 28th in cuts per game due to their desire to keep the paint open, Oklahoma City\u2019s scheme took the paint away regardless.<\/p>\n

Boston needed to find different paths to the basket. The drive-and-kick game initially created their threes above the break. That worked, starting 41.7% from three in the first half, but later, their corner shooters weren\u2019t able to make the Thunder pay. More importantly, they didn\u2019t command their respect. That\u2019s what Holiday needs to achieve more than anything, or\u00a0Payton Pritchard\u00a0<\/strong>could factor into more minutes in his place.<\/p>\n

The Grizzlies\u2019 strategy led to Pritchard closing the game in Holiday\u2019s place. It\u2019s not that they took advantage of a player who can\u2019t shoot. Memphis challenged Holiday\u2019s ability to carry more weight offensively in general, and pulled shot attempts from Brown in the process. Holiday hadn\u2019t taken 26 shots since 2023, and his 17 threes marked his most ever.<\/p>\n

Holiday is a career 36.9% marksman and led the league at 60.7% in the corner in 2024. But in a reduced role, he\u2019s down to 27.2% while taking the most shots on the team from that position alongside Horford. Boston didn\u2019t fall into that against the Thunder, but felt the impact of less floor space.<\/p>\n

This will only become a problem against the NBA\u2019s best and smartest defenses, ones that can take the paint away with rim protectors like\u00a0Chet Holmgren<\/strong>,\u00a0Evan Mobley\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Jaren Jackson Jr. <\/strong>alongside perimeter defenders talented enough to hedge and recover. The Thunder\u2019s strategy to abandon the corners made sense as the distance to return and contest shots is less than that above the break, but they also challenged Horford, highlighting the Celtics\u2019 worst percentages this season.<\/p>\n

Both players have hit plenty of big shots and attempted high volumes of threes before, so neither left the game rattled. A broken right pinkie mallet finger also didn\u2019t derail Holiday\u2019s shooting. He\u2019s now 35.7% 3PT in five games since returning.<\/p>\n

That number\u2019s still far below the 42.9% mark Holiday finished with last season that made the Celtics\u2019 starting five impossible to solve because all five players could beat you. The Nets tried to play away from Holiday on Saturday, too, as the strategy will inevitably spread into the late stages of the season, but Brooklyn played undersized, fouled and couldn\u2019t help enough on a string to slow the Celtics\u2019 offense with it.<\/p>\n

\n

Continuing to keep tabs on Jrue's shooting — and how defenses treat him.<\/p>\n

Pretty aggressive & early nail help from Ziaire Williams here. pic.twitter.com\/p3cQsrVIfd<\/a><\/p>\n

— Nekias (Nuh-KY-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) March 15, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n