"Boston's best all-around player"- Skip Bayless snubs Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in favor of former All-Star
Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are balling for the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals, but for veteran sports analyst Skip Bayless, it is Jrue Holiday who has been the true motor for the success of Beantown in the ongoing playoffs.
The host of FS1's "Undisputed" took to X/Twitter to give props to the two-time All-Star following another efficient and steady performance from Holiday in their 126-110 victory over the Indiana Pacers in Game 2 of the East finals on Thursday.
Bayless wrote on X:
"Jrue Holiday (6-7 tonight, 10 assists) is Boston's best all-around basketball player, and he's now in NBA Finals mode."
Holiday, 33, played 36 minutes in Game 2 and finished with a double-double of 15 points – shooting 6-of-7 from the field and 3-of-4 from 3 – and 10 assists. For good measure, he added two steals.
His stellar play solidly backed up the 40 points that Brown had and the 23 points each produced by Tatum and Derrick White.
In the ongoing series, Holiday is averaging 21.5 ppg, 9.0 apg and 2.5 spg.
The victory gave the Celtics a 2-0 lead over the Pacers in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference finals series. This comes after their come-from-behind, 133-118 overtime victory in Game 1.
Boston's Jrue Holiday earns NBA All-Defensive Second Team nod
Jrue Holiday has been a boon to the Boston Celtics since joining the team via trade in the offseason, particularly on the defensive end which earned the veteran guard another spot in the All-NBA Defensive Team.
Holiday was recently named to the All-NBA Second Team, his third, joining teammate Derrick White, the Chicago Bulls' Alex Caruso, Minnesota Timberwolves' Jaden McDaniels and Orlando Magic's Jalen Suggs.
Last season, he was a member of the All-NBA First Team.
The arrival of Holiday has considerably improved the defense of the Celtics this season. With him and White on the anchor, Boston had a defensive rating of 110.6 for the season, behind only Minnesota's 108.4.
Their defensive play had a key role in the Celtics ending with the best record in the league of 64-18 and now a spot in the Eastern Conference finals.
Boston head coach Joe Mazzula spoke about the value of both Holiday and White to their team, saying, by way of the team's website:
"Effort and versatility. They have the ability to guard different guys in pick-and-roll coverages, pick-and-roll isolation, off-ball screens. They're just two versatile guys you can put on different matchups and different schemes with them and different lineup flexibility."
Holiday was part of the blockbuster trade in the offseason that landed Damian Lillard in Milwaukee. He was sent to the Portland Trail Blazers but did not play a single game there as he eventually made his way to Boston in a trade involving last season's Sixth Man of the Year awardee Malcolm Brogdon and other assets.
This season, the former UCLA standout averaged 12.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg and 4.8 apg on 48% shooting.