Jrue Holiday and the Boston Celtics attempted to become the 10th team to win an NBA Finals via a sweep on Friday night. They ended up not coming close to achieving that feat.
Game 4 of the NBA Finals saw the Dallas Mavericks win in laughable fashion by the score of 122-84. That cuts Boston’s series lead to 3-1. No team has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit in NBA playoff history, but the Mavericks dreams of doing so are still alive.
In the loss, Holiday set an NBA Finals record, one that he surely wishes he hadn’t set.
Jrue Holiday Sets Unwanted NBA Finals Record In Game 4 Loss
Celtics Abused with Jrue Holiday On Court, Sets New Finals Record
It was June 12, just three days ago that Holiday celebrated his 34th birthday. The point guard didn’t receive a great late birthday gift on Friday. He played 29 minutes in Game 4. Boston was outscored by 38 points with Holiday on the court.
Jrue Holiday’s -38 is the lowest +/- in a Finals game since the stat was first tracked in 1997. pic.twitter.com/bfsXvk6qEO
— StatMuse (@statmuse) June 15, 2024
As mentioned in the X post by StatMuse, the first NBA Finals where +/- was kept track of was 1997, Holiday now has the worst +/- in a finals game since then. The previous record holder is another current Celtics player, Jayson Tatum. He was a –36 in Game 2 of the 2022 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
Game 4 was a far cry from how Boston fared with Holiday on the court in the first three games. In game 1 he was a +20, Game 2 a +6, and in Game 3 a +1. The second game of the finals was a magnificent performance by Holiday as he scored 26 points on 11-14 shooting while grabbing 11 rebounds.
One Subpar Outing Doesn’t Change The Impact He’s Had
Now in his 15th NBA season, Holiday was a member of the 2021 Milwaukee Bucks championship team. Milwaukee decided they needed to shake things up last offseason, trading Holiday to the Portland Trail Blazers in a deal that netted them Damian Lillard. A few days later, Portland traded Holiday to Boston.
On a stacked Celtics team, Holiday sacrificed some of his offensive numbers in his first season with Boston. His calling card has always been on the defensive end, and that continued this season. Holiday made the All-Defensive Second Team and finished sixth in Defensive Player of the Year voting. It was the fourth straight season and sixth in the last seven that his name was featured on an All-Defensive team. Many believe he and Derrick White make up the best defensive backcourt in the league.
2023-24 NBA All-Defensive teams:
First team: Rudy Gobert, Victor Wembanyama, Bam Adebayo, Anthony Davis, Herb Jones
Second team: Alex Caruso, Jrue Holiday, Jaden McDaniels, Jalen Suggs, Derrick White
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) May 21, 2024
While the Celtics couldn’t get the job done in Game 4, they have the opportunity to take home the title Monday night in Game 5. If they win, that will be the franchise’s 18th championship. That would break a tie with the Los Angeles Lakers for most in NBA history as both currently have 17.
