Jayson Tatum gushes over Celtics trade addition after key Game 3 play

INDIANAPOLIS — While Jrue Holiday had a relatively slow start to the playoffs, there wasn’t too much worry from the Celtics. After all, despite all the success this C’s roster has seen, Holiday’s the lone player who’s actually won a championship.

But Holiday has played some of his best basketball recently — and he just keeps coming up with big plays. He shined brightest in crunch time of the East Finals in Game 3 against the Pacers, having an exemplary final minute of regulation. With the Celtics trying to claw back from an 18-point deficit, they still hadn’t gotten the lead and over the hump. That is until Holiday stepped up.

First, Holiday converted a tough and-1, going through the bigger Pascal Siakam to not only draw the foul but also hit the layup. His ensuing free throw put the Celtics in the lead for the first time since the second quarter. Then Holiday came up with the play of the game, knocking the ball out of Andrew Nembhard’s hands for as clutch a steal as possible. The play secured the 114-111 win for the Celtics as Holiday scored the game’s final five points while keeping the Pacers off the board.

Can’t speak highly enough about Jrue,” Jayson Tatum said. “The ultimate teammate, competitor, obviously a champion. Wasn’t at shootaround today, he was sick. Dealing with chills and stuff like that. And we’ve all been there, how tough that is, to fight through it and for him to come out there and lay it all on the line for us, make the game winning play essentially, especially on the defensive end.”

In an interesting twist, despite Holiday being the lone champion on the roster, this East Finals stage is still relatively new to him. It’s just the second time in his 15-year career that he’s in the conference finals. That’s a stark difference compared to the C’s, who have made it to this stage in six of the last eight seasons. So even though Holiday was nursing a sickness earlier Saturday, he said there was no way he was going to sit the game.

Fortunately for the Celtics, Holiday was at his best. He poured in 14 points and nine rebounds as he shook off a tough shooting start. And now, the C’s are just one win away from their second NBA Finals berth in the last three seasons. But before looking too far, they must secure the Game 4 victory, set for 8 p.m. Monday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

“I think I just made a play,” Holiday said. “Feel like he’s a right handed driver and he’s being very, very aggressive all night. Great player, had a great game, but, just made a play, kind of jumped his right hand and got the steal.”