Jrue Holiday went 10 years between All-Star selections. He proved why he’s an All-Star on Tuesday.
Holiday hit the last of his eight three-pointers with 25 seconds left in overtime to give Milwaukee a two-point lead they’d never relinquish. It was the most threes he’d ever hit in a game, in his last game before the All-Star break. Milwaukee won its 11th straight game.
The shot he hit to end the third quarter was truly ridiculous.
While he’d made four All-Defensive Team appearances and won two Teammate of the Year awards, Holiday hadn’t been an All-Star since he made the 2013 team as a 22-year-old on the Philadelphia 76ers. He’s picked up the offensive slack with former All-Star Khris Middleton limited to 17 games this season while anchoring the Bucks’ defense, which is third in the NBA in defensive rating.
Holiday showed his defense doesn’t take a break even when he’s scoring a career-high 40 points.
The Celtics are certainly a deeper team – they took the Bucks to OT missing four of their starters. But with Middleton working his way back from injury and Jae Crowder about to join the team, Milwaukee is getting close to matching them. And for top-line stars, Holiday and Giannis Antetokounmpo absolutely stack up against Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
Milwaukee is now half a game behind Boston going into the All-Star break in the race for the top seed. The teams have met three times in the playoffs in the past five years. The team with home-court advantage has won every time.
