JRUE HOLIDAY UNLEASHES SHOCKING EMOTION! 😱🔥 Celtics Star’s “Doctor Evil” Pinky Stuns Crowd, Ignites Game-Changing Run—Bench Erupts! 🏀💥 What Sparked Boston’s Epic Playoff Turnaround? Holiday’s Quiet Fire Turns TD Garden Into a Frenzy—You Won’t Believe What Happened Next! 🏆🙌

Jrue Holiday is as even-keeled as they come. He’s never one to show much emotion on the floor. But after picking up Franz Wagner at midcourt, forcing a steal, and burying a pull-up three on the other end, Holiday hit his patented “Doctor Evil” celebration—raising his splinted pinky to the corner of his mouth—before letting out an animated scream, skipping to the bench, and high-fiving teammates along the way.

“It’s playoff basketball. You can feel the energy in the arena, you can feel it in the air, you can feel it from the team,” said Holiday. “It was just one of those feelings like, we’re here.”

The whole sequence was quintessential Jrue Holiday—stringing together big play after big play, just like he’s done throughout his postseason career. And it came at exactly the right time. His triple capped off a 15-4 run out of halftime, flipping a one-point deficit into a 10-point lead—a cushion Boston maintained the rest of the way. Holiday knocked down two threes during the run and assisted on two more buckets, scoring or assisting on four of the five makes, accounting for 11 of the 15 points.

And his energy didn’t go unnoticed.

“It was fun to see. He was kind of that emotional leader we had there, and it was big time. Especially at that moment,” said Derrick White. “We know what to expect from Jrue. He’s always just that constant for us that’s going to just do all the little things and make every little play that we need him to. It’s great to have him.”

That stretch was the turning point—a snapshot of how Holiday changed the game for Boston in Game 1.

Photo credit Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

The Celtics were unable to match Orlando’s physicality or energy in the first half. But at halftime, they challenged themselves—and responded. They outscored the Magic 55-37 in the second half and seized control, led by Holiday on both ends of the floor.

“Coming out in that second half, we wanted to show that we can withstand any punch that they have,” said Holiday. “We just turned up the defense, got out in transition, and got some easy buckets, and that kind of prepared our offense.”

The first half went exactly how Orlando wanted: slow, physical, and ugly. The Magic dominated the glass and took away Boston’s threes. But it was the Celtics’ defensive effort in the second half, sparked by Holiday, that changed everything. He was deflecting passes, forcing turnovers, and winning 50-50 balls—helping Boston pick up the pace, get out in front of the defense, and generate cleaner looks on offense.

“His ball pressure. His individual defense. He took on the challenge of his matchup, and I thought he did a great job on both ends of the floor. His defense led to our offense,” said head coach Joe Mazzulla. “I thought Jrue did a great job setting the tone for us from a defensive standpoint in the second half.”

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As is often the case with Holiday, the box score doesn’t tell the whole story. He scored just nine points—all coming in the third quarter—and took only six shots, the fewest of any Celtics starter. He also contributed five assists, three rebounds, and three steals. It may not be flashy, but his influence was undeniable.

“He’s an innate competitor. Sometimes, he takes a backseat because of the type of guys that we have,” said Mazzulla. “But I thought tonight, he put the team on his back from that passion and emotion standpoint, and that’s why Jrue Holiday is Jrue Holiday. We’re lucky to have him. We’re going to need that every single night. We feed off of his physicality and his presence.”

If the Celtics are going to repeat as champions, that’s the version of Jrue Holiday they’ll need.

His fingerprints were all over last year’s title run, especially when the stakes were highest. In the Eastern Conference Finals, he made a strong case for series MVP—averaging 18.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 5.8 assists—while delivering clutch plays like the game-sealing steal on Andrew Nembhard in Game 3 and a crucial offensive rebound that let the Celtics dribble out the clock in Game 4. His impact carried into the Finals, where he averaged 14.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists, including a team-high 26 points in a pivotal Game 2 win.

Photo credit Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Holiday’s regular season was his quietest in years—his 11.1 points per game were his lowest since his rookie year as a 19-year-old in 2009-10. His 3.9 assists per game were also a career low since that season. He shot just 44.3% from the field—his worst mark in nearly a decade. But despite the dip in numbers, there was little concern when it came to the playoffs. And sure enough, his production began to climb as the postseason approached.

“That’s the Jrue I love. That’s the Jrue I remember competing against,” said Jaylen Brown. “The regular season is different from the playoffs. Sometimes, y’all forget that and think it’s the regular season, but you can see the intensity level is a lot different. You can see the physicality is a lot different. So we just take it one game at a time, but Jrue, he loves the environment just as much as I do. You can see him picking up guys, blowing through screens, just making plays. When we get that Jrue, it’s a good sign for us.”

Like clockwork, Holiday delivers in the playoffs. He’s a proven winner who thrives on the biggest stage. And with Boston’s title defense underway, there’s no better tone-setter.

“When he’s aggressive for us, we’re a different team,” said Mazzulla. “It takes everybody to do that. And tonight, it started from his defense. He changed it for us.”