Phoenix – Jrue holiday He knows what everyone wants him to do. Nobody needs to tell you to be more aggressive. Or to keep shooting, your shots will eventually start to drop.
“I always do it,” said his father, Sean Holiday.
But Sean trained his son long enough to know how committed he was to himself. By reaching Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Holiday had only made 33% of his shots (23 of 69), including 4 particularly bad of 20 in Game 4.
“After the game, we could get in the car and say, ‘This is tough,'” Shaun said. “But we don’t talk much about the game, because he already knows what to do.”
Be more aggressive. Keep shooting. Trust that the shots will eventually fall off.
“My dad thinks I’m the best player in the world,” Holiday said with a smile after scoring 27 points, providing 13 assists and creating the play of the night with a steal from the Phoenix Suns goalkeeper. Devin Booker, with 16.7 seconds remaining. This was followed by a perfect alley for his teammate. Giannis Antikonmo He sealed the Milwaukee Bucks’ 123-119 victory to advance 3-2 in the Finals.
“I just feel like I can do everything: play for 48 minutes, I don’t need to go out, I don’t need a break. But in reality, I’m aggressive the whole game.”
As Jrue points out, his dad is a little biased when it comes to him. But Sean’s message to stay on track is important here.
How many stars can do what the feast did before Saturday night and not discourage them?
How many people will ignore after 4-20 shots and be happy for the team to win?
“We still won,” Holiday said. “And I know I can do other things to influence the match.”
as a defense.
The holiday was exceptional against Chris Paul and poker. According to Second Spectrum, in 268 games, where Holiday is Poker or Paul’s main defender, they average just 22 points per 100 possessions. Against all other Bucks defenders, the duo averaged 39.7 points per 100 possessions. Paul’s holiday forced 10 extraordinary turns and Booker into eight.
One of those twists, of course, was the play that ended in the decisive fifth game.
The Suns were rebounding from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter behind decisive shots from Booker and Paul W. Michael Bridges and a series of three unsuccessful free throws by Antetokounmpo.
After Paul cut the difference to 120-119 with 56 seconds left, Booker had the opportunity to give the Suns the lead. went to PJ Tucker And crashed into the Bucks defense. Antetokounmpo spinned to halt his momentum, leaving Booker with little choice but to walk away from him.
Holiday was watching the play unfold, as he defended Paul near a three-point arc. He couldn’t leave early or find Poker Bowl open. But the holiday couldn’t be delayed either, or Booker would have clearly seen a shot of her spinning motion.
As is so often the case in this series, the timing for the holiday was perfect. He descended while Booker was spinning, kicked the ball away from him without fouling, then ran across the floor on a quick break, Antetokounmpo in a full sprint, ready for the alley.
“It was frankly a great team defense,” Holiday added. “I feel like we knew Booker wanted to take that last shot and played him a great defense and had him turn his back, and he turned towards me. I think he was in the right place at the right time,” he said.