Needing a victory to start their road trip, Jrue Holiday gave the New Orleans Pelicans a huge two-way performance to help motor the team ahead.
Where would the New Orleans Pelicans be without Jrue Holiday on their side at this point in the season? Probably not in the chase of one of the more exciting playoff races in recent memory.
On Sunday night on the road against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he gave a fantastic two-way performance, acting as the key component to a 120-107 win for New Orleans.
Leading the team with his season-high in scoring, Jrue Holiday filled up the stat sheet for 37 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, and shot 13-of-20 from the floor. Holiday also finished a game-high +27 in the win.
Throughout the game, it seemed like no Timberwolves run could go long without Jrue finding a way to cut the bleeding with a basket.
Jrue comes out on fire in the second half, knocking down back-to-back triples! pic.twitter.com/Wc8K1Bgoq4
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) March 8, 2020
According to Jen Hale of Fox Sports New Orleans, the Pelicans were thrilled with the way Jrue Holiday attacked the Minnesota Timberwolves’ zone defense, asking him to do it even more in the second half, which wound up being the defining factor in the win.
When asked how he attacked the Minnesota defense, Jrue Holiday admitted that he was stealing the strategy from the Timberwolves’ own style guide, one that crushed the Pelicans for 139 points last Tuesday.
"“Honestly playing of the catch, that’s how they play. They play off the catch, quick decisions, so I decided to play off the catch, try to get to the free throw line a little bit… at that point you open up the lane for possibilities,” Holiday said to Fox Sports New Orleans after the win."
Holiday’s offense certainly shined bright for the New Orleans Pelicans, but his defense on D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley proved crucial.
Beasley and Russell combined for 51 points in the last meeting on 19-of-34 shooting, but their 40 points on 14-of-38 shooting in Sunday’s meeting didn’t have the same volatility.
Both Lonzo Ball and Holiday deserve credit for the effort, but it was Jrue who anchored the Pelicans’ as a whole not backing down against bigger defensive assignments like Josh Okogie or Jake Layman.
Time and time again, Holiday walled off Wolves pick-and-rolls, his teammates responding by keeping close coverage on their individual match-ups.
Jrue led a New Orleans Pelicans effort that came packed with incredible defensive intensity against a high-functioning Minnesota offense. The Wolves came into the meeting averaging the second-highest scoring total (119.7 points per game) in the NBA since the trade deadline.
Though Holiday played 35 minutes in the win, it didn’t come without some dangerous moments amidst a high-intensity defensive performance.
A key moment in the game came when Jrue picked up his third foul of the game with 3:28 left in the second quarter; though Brandon Ingram and Ball both already had three fouls, Gentry trusted Holiday to stay in the game. Like a true vet, Jrue went almost two-quarters of basketball without committing another, all while playing outstanding defense (5:12 mark in the fourth quarter).
This is one of the best games Jrue has ever played in a Pelicans uniform
— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) March 8, 2020
Still finishing with 5 fouls on the night, the defensive effort hardly lost a step when Holiday found himself in foul trouble, or at least when he was still on the floor.
The bench did provide some scare moments at times in this one, but thanks to a remarkable defensive effort from the starters, including Jrue Holiday, the team was able to keep up their coverage long enough to win in Minnesota.
The dropoff between Holiday and his backups seem as dramatic as any in the Pelicans lineup, as Frank Jackson didn’t bring the same offensive creativity nor defensive intensity.
Jackson finished -7 in 10 minutes, going 1-of-6 from the floor with 3 points, 2 turnovers, and 2 fouls against the Timberwolves.
Seemingly, when the team has to take both Jrue and Lonzo off of the floor in their rotations, the ball seems to fall out of motion, which has really hurt the Pelicans in certain spots.
Heading into the final few weeks of the season, it’s slightly concerning that the New Orleans Pelicans don’t have a better answer behind Jrue Holiday in their rotation.
Hopefully, the team will have J.J. Redick back in the mix sooner than later, but for now, the heightened play from Holiday paying big dividends for the team.
The New Orleans Pelicans have ground to make up in the Western Conference playoff race, but if they keep getting these heightened efforts from Jrue Holiday as they did on Sunday in Minnesota, they’re going to be hard to keep out of the picture.