Why Joe Mazzulla Views Jrue Holiday As ‘Quarterback’ Of Celtics Defense

Jrue Holiday is fulfilling a much different role as a member of the Boston Celtics than he had in three previous seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks — and that’s fine.

Joining a team with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis and peak Derrick White, scoring isn’t an issue. All of Boston’s starters, including Holiday, can score from just about anywhere on the floor and take over on any given night.

That’s been established less than halfway into the season with the Celtics settling in as the best of both conferences, leading the NBA with a league-best 29-8 record. Though, while Holiday’s scoring numbers have taken a hit, it’s not indicative of the overall value the 33-year-old veteran delivers.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla previously referred to Holiday as Boston’s “quarterback” and, when asked, further explained the title.

“We play such a unique defense to where there’s a lot of rules, but there’s also a lot of gray area and there’s a lot of opportunity for defensive freedom and playmaking,” Mazzulla said Wednesday on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Zolak & Bertrand” show. “… You have a guy that’s been one of the best defenders in the league for so long, and you wanna take advantage of his strengths, but we also have a defensive system that’s been good for some time, and we want to leverage those strengths.”

Brought in as a void-filler after Marcus Smart’s departure in the offseason, Holiday has partaken in improving Boston’s backcourt. He and Derrick White are the NBA’s best defensive backcourt, sitting in the top two for blocks among all guards in the league.

Now 37 games deep into the season following Boston’s 127-120 overtime win over the Timberwolves on Wednesday night, Holiday’s averaged 13 points with 6.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists, shooting 45.7% on 10.9 shot attempts per game — his fewest since 2011-12.

Yet, none of that speaks for the impact Holiday makes being the calm, cool and collected guard who doesn’t stress about reaching a scoring quota, but is more focused on aiming for the win column. That’s exactly what the Celtics have needed, and patrolling the defensive side of the floor is just one part of how Holiday serves as one of several difference makers on the Celtics.