Woj: Jrue to Celtics

[Roy H.]

God I love Jrue.  48 minutes of excellent two-way play.

[SparzWizard]

So far we're winning this Jrue Holiday trade.

Let's see how well Malcolm Brogdon and Timelord hold up along with the 2024 and 2029 picks lol

[GreenEnvy]

THIS is the Jrue we need. He was great tonight, they need to let him run the offense more.

[jambr380]

I'm so happy to see the Jrue of the last few games instead of the Jrue of the first few. He is getting better as the playoffs progress. He should be able to get whatever he wants this series. Oh, and congrats on the All-Defense nod (along with White obviously)

[tazzmaniac]

God I love Jrue.  48 minutes of excellent two-way play.

Just a true professional. 

[ozgod]

I feel he's been playing within himself most of the season, deferring to the Jays and DW, sacrificing because he was the one coming into a loaded team and trying to be the glue guy. But the last few games has been winning time and he's sensed the need to take a more dominant role with some of the other guys (like White) scuffling a bit and with KP out. True team player that is just focused on what the team needs, whether that's him as a facilitator or him taking a more dominant role.

[Who]

Dennis Johnson 2.0

[Neurotic Guy]

What a difference a couple of weeks makes. He was put out to pasture a bit here not so long ago - an aging has-been who never performs in the playoffs.  So glad to see Jrue shut the door on that. 

[smokeablount]

25% of his games were more than 15% off his average. That isn't a typical bell curve

I'm guessing that Probability and Statistics wasn't your best course?

Neither was English. He went from claiming the regression was “invariable” to then citing one example. Classic Mo lol

[smokeablount]

I was extremely bullish on the KP trade this off-season but wasn’t exactly sure what to make of Jrue. Love the player, but had concerns about age (considering he was likely to re-sign) and future cap implications. He is currently shredding all of these concerns and I love it.

[Roy H.]

Souichi Terada: Jaylen Brown: “Jrue was fantastic. Jrue was exceptional. Jrue came out and balled — he’s the reason we won this game.” 9 hours ago – via Twitter SouichiTerada

ClutchPoints: “[Jrue Holiday] is the best defender in the NBA and has been for a long time… I’ll learn from it and I’ll be better in Game 2.” Tyrese Haliburton praises Holiday and the Celtics’ defense down the stretch of Game 1

[Phantom255x]

Holiday wasn't just a beast last night but he was unselfish and a calm presence throughout

As much as I loved Smart, he just was not that guy at all in 2023 and it felt after 2019 he developed a bit of an ego and acted like he was a member of the "Big 3". Jrue meanwhile seems content playing any sort of role that contributes to winning, no fuss. 

[tonydelk]

Holiday wasn't just a beast last night but he was unselfish and a calm presence throughout

As much as I loved Smart, he just was not that guy at all in 2023 and it felt after 2019 he developed a bit of an ego and acted like he was a member of the "Big 3". Jrue meanwhile seems content playing any sort of role that contributes to winning, no fuss.

If we had Smart last night versus Jrue I don't think we have won.  I love Smart.  He will always be one of my favorite Celtics.  I just think Jrue is a definite upgrade over Marcus and it showed yesterday. 

[Kernewek]

What a difference a couple of weeks makes. He was put out to pasture a bit here not so long ago - an aging has-been who never performs in the playoffs.  So glad to see Jrue shut the door on that.

Slight correction - he's never raised his game in the playoffs vs. his performance during the regular season. And he still hasn't, but I think we'll all take 'perfectly adequate' games like that all the way to Banner 18

[keevsnick]

I love Marcus Smart, always will. But you see in games like this the difference Jrue holiday makes as an offensive player. He's better on ball as a scorer and a far more consistent shooter than Smart is, and for a team that wants to play 5 out that's a huge deal.