Jrue Holiday put the exclamation point on Wednesday night’s heavyweight bout between the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics.
The Bucks point guard put the clamps on newly-minted Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart in two crucial defensive possessions for Milwaukee.
Jrue Holiday comes up with BACK-TO-BACK stops to close out GAME 4 😤 pic.twitter.com/Oxzn1JlXQo
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) May 12, 2022
Jrue Holiday’s game-sealing stops had the rest of the NBA buzzing. Utah Jazz All-Star Donovan Mitchell and Portland Trail Blazers wing Josh Hard could only utter the Bucks star’s first name in shock.
JRUE…
— Donovan Mitchell (@spidadmitchell) May 12, 2022
Wow Jrue
— Josh Hart (@joshhart) May 12, 2022
Jrue’s lockdown defense had guys like Kyle Kuzma and Wade Baldwin IV questioning the point guard hierarchy in the league. He’s proven himself invaluable to the Bucks but his place among the NBA’s best floor generals isn’t talked about enough.
How many PGs you taking over Jrue👀
— kuz (@kylekuzma) May 12, 2022
I hear slack everytime I say it !!!!!! Jrue holiday is a top 5 pg in the nba. Steph , dame , Luka , Cp3 , Jrue holiday
— Wade Baldwin IV (@The_Fourth_Wade) May 12, 2022
Los Angeles Clippers’ Nicolas Batum and Toronto Raptors’ Precious Achiuwa, both pretty solid defenders in their own right, were vocal about Jrue Holiday deserving the DPOY award. Those two plays were a microcosm of his defensive impact for the Bucks on a nightly basis.
Holiday will win the DPOY award at some point, he got to
— Nicolas Batum (@nicolas88batum) May 12, 2022
DPOY type defense on the DPOY. Crazy how no talks about Jrue’s defense
— Precious Achiuwa (@PreciousAchiuwa) May 12, 2022
Jrue Holiday clearly has the respect of his NBA peers as several other players around the league were left admiring his work in the win. New Orleans Pelicans’ CJ McCollum, Charlotte Hornets’ Miles Bridges, and Atlanta Hawks’ Kevin Huerter were all vocal about Jrue Holiday being a consummate winner.
Tatum was naked on that play too sheesh that was a really good game and unbelievable stops by jrue
— CJ McCollum (@CJMcCollum) May 12, 2022
Jrue with 2 huge defensive possessions
— Miles Bridges (@MilesBridges) May 12, 2022
Jrue is a winner
— Kevin Huerter (@KevinHuerter) May 12, 2022
The closing seconds of Game 5 are the exact situations that the Bucks needed Jrue Holiday for. The trade to acquire him had already paid dividends last season during their magical run to the title. But Holiday isn’t done proving his worth to Milwaukee.
