BOSTON — The Celtics were without Jrue Holiday as they closed out their first-round series against the Orlando Magic. Holiday missed the final three games of the playoffs with a right hamstring strain after excelling in Games 1 and 2.
He travelled with the team to Orlando and was questionable ahead of Game 3, but was ruled out of Games 4 and 5 a day in advance.
Joe Mazzulla was asked about Holiday’s status in his weekly radio appearance on 98.5 on Zolak and Bertrand on Wednesday, and he shared that the two-time All-Star is improving.
“He’s day-to-day,” Mazzulla said. “He’s working his ass off to get back there for us. It’s good that we were able to kind of take care of business to get guys extra time to rest. He’s working as hard as he can to get back, he’s day-to-day. He’ll continue to get better.”
The Celtics have five days off before they begin their next round of the playoffs. They’ll host either the Detroit Pistons or the New York Knicks on Monday, May 5th.
“Jrue’s a tough guy, and I know he’ll do whatever it takes to put himself, and our team, in a position to win,” Mazzulla said. “And he’ll also do what’s best for him. He’s getting better and better each day, and we’ll see how he progresses.”
Other Celtics have stepped up with Jrue Holiday sidelined
Without Holiday, Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley praised Payton Pritchard for stepping up defensively.
“I felt like Payton, all series, his ball pressure, his impact was noticeable,” Al Horford said. “He was just trying to find ways to impact the game, to impact winning. Payton was key for us there.”
In an interview with NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin ahead of Game 5, Derrick White noted that there’s no replacing the All-Defensive guard.
But, with Holiday indefinitely sidelined, everyone will have to try.
“Obviously, defensively, he does so much for us, and you can’t really replace that,” White said. “But even offensively, just having another playmaker out there and someone that can just make the defense pay whenever he has an opportunity. Everyone has to step up.”
