With a roster as talented as the Celtics, they have many ways to beat you. It goes back to a word head coach Joe Mazzulla used often in training camp – “Flexibility.”
Mazzulla and the Celtics have experimented with many different things early on. One of the more interesting experiments is how the C’s are utilizing Jrue Holiday on the defensive end.
It started opening night in New York against the Knicks. In a surprising move, Mazzulla matched the 6-foot-4 Holiday up with 6-foot-8 big man Julius Randle.
When asked what went into matching Holiday up with such a strong guy like Randle, Mazzulla said, “Jrue’s a really strong guy, that’s where it started.”
Despite the four-inch height and 45-pound weight difference, Holiday did a terrific job on the two-time All-NBA selection Randle, holding him to just two points on 1-of-10 shooting as the primary defender. Holiday also blocked Randle twice.
After finding success in the matchup with Randle, Holiday drew the assignment of former number one overall pick Karl-Anthony Towns in Boston’s 114-109 overtime loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The 34-year-old guard did a nice job on the former number-one overall pick, especially early on. Holiday defended Towns on 22.5 possessions Monday night, holding the 6-foot-11 big man to just seven points and forcing five turnovers.
Holiday, who has been named to the All-Defensive first or second team in five of the last six seasons, brings tremendous versatility on the defensive end, something Mazzulla has taken advantage of when throwing “curveballs” at opponents.
Holiday had his toughest assignment of the young season (and probably the toughest he’ll see) on Wednesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers – As he was deployed against the reigning MVP, Joel Embiid.
Holiday, who surrenders six inches and 75 pounds to the 7-foot Embiid, defended the two-time scoring champ on nearly a third of Embiid’s offensive possessions. Holiday held Embiid to just two points on 1-of-3 shooting and forced three turnovers. Embiid has scored just 17 points on 7-of-22 (31.8%) shooting and turned the ball over nine times on 74.5 possessions in his career when defended by Holiday.
Embiid, who leads the league in points per game, is going to score. There is no way to fully shut him down. Instead, you have to hope to make things difficult and slow him down – Which is exactly what Holiday Wednesday night.
“I thought it went well,” Mazzulla said when discussing the Holiday-Embiid matchup. “I thought he [Holiday] pushed a lot of catches out, and I thought we were physical with him [Embiid]. He’s going to get 27 no matter how you guard him.”
The 76ers are going to be a team to watch in the Eastern Conference. Philly and Boston will see each other three more times this season (one of those matchups coming next week), and the 6ers will likely be a factor in Boston's postseason plans this spring.
Slowing down Embiid will be key for the Celtics in their matchups with Philly, and Holiday could provide an interesting wrinkle to that process.
“Listen, you're not going to stop him [Embiid],” Mazzulla said. “There is no one way to guard him. But I thought when you have to play a team four times, and we have the ability to play a bunch of different ways, those are things we have to look at and see what we can go to later in the season and down the stretch.”
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