Celtics’ Jrue Holiday snatches Game 3 victory from Pacers with clutch steal vs. Andrew Nembhard

Late in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday, Boston Celtics guard Jrue Holiday stole the ball from Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard in transition. The play was so nice that Al Horford called it “unbelievable” twice. 

“Man, that was unbelievable. That was an unbelievable play,” Horford told reporters. “A guy like that, coming full speed, him having the instincts to do that. He is just, you know, his instincts — he’s just a winner. Ultimately, that’s what it comes down to.” 

This was not Holiday’s only big moment in the clutch. A couple of possessions earlier, Holiday had attacked the basket, gone right through Indiana forward Pascal Siakam and finished with his left hand, then completed the and-1 to give the Celtics their first lead since early in the second quarter. Moments after the steal, he was fouled by Siakam again in transition, and he made both ensuing free throws. 

The thievery, though, is what will be remembered. It is a quintessential Jrue Holiday play, one that virtually no one else in the NBA makes consistently. With Nembhard going downhill, Holiday squared his body and beat him to the spot, then, with one clean, left-handed swipe, took the ball away. 

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

“He got in front of me,” Nembhard told reporters. “I lost the ball, slipped, turnover.”

Two years ago, The Athletic’s Eric Nehm dubbed this particular move “The Jrue.” Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez, then Holiday’s teammate, told The Athletic, “I don’t know how he does it. He does it so fast, it’s like he’s not even reacting. He just times it just right. It’s nuts. It’s phenomenal.”

“That’s a trademark steal that he always gets with the inside hand,” Boston coach Joe Mazzulla told reporters after the 114-111 victory on Saturday, which put the Celtics up 3-0 in the series. “He gets that a lot, usually…

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Author : James Herbert

Publish date : 2024-05-26 05:30:06

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