Boston needs a lift, Holiday brings the drive

Yes, it has been only two games, but there is a clear shift in Jrue Holiday’s approach and aggressiveness on the court. For the last two seasons since he landed in Boston, Holiday has been more of a connector. He let Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown carry the ball and lead the offense. Off-ball, his missions were various, but he rarely needed to drive. Often, as a connector, you would find him setting a screen and cutting in the middle of the court to disrupt the defense from the short roll.

When he wasn’t in the middle of the court playing the connector, he was at the dunker spot to mess with the defensive structure. As he is often defended by the shortest player on the other team, putting him in that position messes with the defensive structure. During Game 1, his positioning makes Cory Joseph the low man, which causes weak defensive protection for the Magic.

A lot of his offense also comes from shooting the ball from the corner or anywhere beyond the lines. There are also a few post-ups, and sometimes he allows himself to shoot some pull-ups, but most of his threes are now catch-and-shoots. One side of his game that we haven’t seen a lot yet — and that he showed us through these first two games — is his ability to drive, especially in Game 2.

With Jayson Tatum out, the Celtics needed everyone to step up. While Jaylen Brown stepped up big and Kristaps Porzingis fought back against the Magic’s physicality, Holiday’s performance might have been the one that surprised me the most. In terms of numbers, he drove nine times. It is twice as much as his season average.

The first drive came early in the game on an empty-side action. An approach that the Celtics are using a lot, with a screen for a ball-handler on one side with the empty corner, while the other big man is set on the opposing slot to stretch the defense. Instead of using the screen, Holiday drives left and forces the help from the weak side. Franz Wagner now has two players to deal with, and Al Horford is free beyond the line.

On his second drive, he refuses the screen and drives the other way. This time, he has a bigger defensive player on him with the long and young Anthony Black. However, Holiday is strong enough to make his way to the rim, and when he gathers, watch how he slows down on the last step so Black anticipates the layup and jumps too early. This little adjustment gives enough space for Jrue Holiday to make the layup.

The next one is less impressive but means a lot because it is one of his only dunks with a Celtics uniform. After a Jaylen Brown post-up, he catches the ball beyond the line, but instead of taking a three, he drives with a lot of momentum and flies to the rim — and the bench loves it.

Later in the game, there is a play call to obtain a switch and a post-up for Horford. However, once Holiday has the ball, he goes left and fakes a handoff with Brown to drive again to the rim. Because KCP is switched onto Horford, the rim protection is weak and Holiday can finish the play himself.

To start the last quarter, he goes again against Banchero from the right corner, and it seems like the young star isn’t always comfortable defending Holiday’s mix of strength and speed. This time, instead of driving in, he pulls up above him — and Banchero gets caught with his hands too close to the Celtics guard’s arms. That’s an and-one!

But the most important — and maybe most impressive — cut came late in the fourth with less than 90 seconds to go in the game. This drive reminds me of a quote from Joe Mazzulla during the last NBA Finals when he was mic’d up:

“Don’t try to hit a homerun on the first drive. First drive, second drive, third drive, take the best shot.”

On this drive from Jrue Holiday, he uses Payton Pritchard’s gravity to be a step ahead on the closeout, then drives into the open space. He jumps, bumps into Wendell Carter Jr., and kicks it out to Jaylen Brown, who makes the three-pointer. Because of Pritchard’s threat as a scorer, Holiday had a better driving situation, which led to an open three for the one who usually leads the offense.

That’s why this team is so special: all of them can benefit from each other’s strengths and build on them to also make their teammates better. A virtuous circle that will need Jrue Holiday’s willingness to drive to keep going as Jayson Tatum might miss a couple more games.