Holiday stole victory in enemy territory
BOSTON — Jrue Holiday said – in a voice without much inflection or drama or even pride – that this was simply the plan, to come in to Boston and get a win Wednesday night, “no matter if we were up 20, no matter if we were down 20.”
Bucks fans and basketball fans were going bonkers back home, but 1,000 miles east? After playing 41 minutes ... and two years straight with one Olympic summer ... Holiday, the veteran Bucks point guard, just wasn't going to sell it: The magnitude of his part in this game.
Game 5 in the Eastern Conference semifinals – it was not the time and place. There's too much respect for Boston's potential of retaliation.
But Holiday's big defensive plays can not go unwritten in the chronicles.
So in the spirit of one of his favorite shows, The Last Kingdom, which inspired that move to pull the sword from his back sheath, this is how Jrue “Uhtred” Holiday strode in to enemy territory and stole critical Game 5 in the final 8.1 seconds at the TD Garden – and did it with two defensive plays against Marcus Smart, who was just crowned the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year. The block.
Down one, Smart took Bucks guard Pat Connaughton to the rim for a driving layup and Holiday sagged off Jaylen Brown for the help defense. Smart launched and Holiday soared, palmblocking the basketball from behind without fouling Smart. Not a swat. A full Nerf basketball submission.
“I didn't want to hit it and make it go out of bounds,” Holiday said of the block. “I wanted to keep it inbounds. It's not like I planned it out or anything. Just went after it."
The blast.
Holiday next makes three monumental plays in about 1.5 seconds.
He collects the rebound of his block, somehow pausing his momentum and staying inside the lines of the court.
“We've been playing this game long enough to kind of feel that out,” Holiday said. “It's kind of like that corner three, knowing where out of bounds is; knowing where the three-point line is. So I think just think playing this game long enough, anybody in that position probably would have done their best to try to stay in bounds.”
The save.
Holiday then determines – in 1 second, seriously, watch the replay – that he can't save this ball and himself from going out of bounds anymore.
Looking for a teammate open and finding none, and keeping the precious bonus possession away from his basket and the Celtics, Holiday fires the ball at Smart. Dodgeball style. Even Smart can't react to grab it.
“At first I was trying to see if I could throw it to somebody down the court,” Holiday said. “And obviously throw it away from our basket, just because that's like rule No. 1. But when I didn't see anybody and I saw Marcus kind of come up with his hands up, I just tried to throw it off his chest and kind of at an angle to where it wouldn't come back and hit me.”
The ball bounces off of the Nos. 3 and 6 on Smart's jersey and out of bounds. It remains the Bucks' ball, with a onepoint lead.
What could Smart even do? It wasn't even a Celtics play designed for Smart; it was supposed to go to Jayson Tatum.
"JT was supposed to come up and get it – but everybody was just standing around. There are no timeouts and there was a 5-second count on the way," Smart said. "So I just got open, tried make a play. Jrue did a good job of helping. That's it; made a good play."
The steal.
Boston born and raised, Pat Connaughton cooly sinks two late free throws to give his Bucks the 110-107 lead. But there's plenty of time left. The Celtics have the ball with 5.9 seconds left. They can tie it with a three or a layupand-one.
Smart gets the inbound pass, but the Bucks are playing the kind of full court press that would make Mike Budenholzer's dad, Vince, so proud.
Which means Bobby Portis is there, impeding a clear way for Smart, a giant obstacle with long arms, and Smart for a half-second takes his eye off the lefthanded dribble. It's a fatal move. He loses it.
Holiday swoops in, fierce, opportunistic.
“Kind of seemed like Marcus kind of lost it a little bit,” Holiday said, “and from there, I took off the dribble and I went for it.”
Holiday's steal seals the Milwaukee win, coming back from a 14-point deficit, and trailing the Celtics for most of the game, after losing a draining Game 4 in Milwaukee two days earlier.
Holiday is already a legend for his Game 5 strip of Devin Booker in the NBA Finals last year, a game that set up the history-making Game 6 and first NBA title for the Bucks in 50 years.
But now his legacy is solidified as one of the greatest defenders in Milwaukee playoff history.
"A lot of it is just confidence in ourselves," Holiday said. "I mean obviously we're in Boston, we're down 14 in the fourth quarter; people would say that everything's against us but we come together and I feel like we've done that multiple times and will live and die by that.
"Having each other's backs. Just wrapping arms and going out there and fight and honestly just leaving it on the line on the court every single game."