The New Orleans Pelicans Will Need Playoff Jrue Holiday

The New Orleans Pelicans need Jrue Holiday to find another level in Orlando.

The New Orleans Pelicans don’t have a whole lot of playoff experience, but they are about to get some.

Technically, the eight game finale to the 2020 season is not the playoffs, but considering the Pelicans need to win to get in, they have to treat every game as if it were part of a series.

They need to hit the ground running and can’t afford to waste any games, which is why they need playoff Jrue Holiday….. now.

Holiday has been to the playoffs four times in his career, twice with the Sixers and twice with the New Orleans Pelicans and when he’s gotten there, he’s found another level.

Holiday has career regular season numbers of 15.9 points, 6.9 assists and 4.9 rebounds per game. He started his career as a point guard and still plays there at times, so his assist numbers are up and his scoring down compared to the playoffs.

His career playoff numbers of 17 points, 5.5 assists and 4.5 rebounds show that Holiday has become more of a scorer in the playoffs than the regular season.

This is especially true if you remove 2014-15 from the equation as Holiday played limited minutes in only three games.

Playoff Jrue Holiday emerged in 2017-18 for the New Orleans Pelicans.

In the last playoff run Holiday had with the Pels, Jrue took his game to new heights, averaging 23.7 points, 6.3 assists and 5.7 rebounds over the nine games.

The Pels are going to need this Holiday if they want to have a chance to overtake Portland, then beat Memphis for the 8th seed.

This is especially true if Zion Williamson has to miss time due to a family emergency that forced him to leave the bubble.

If Zion is out, Playoff Jrue needs to pick up the slack. The Pelicans need Holiday to be the best player on the floor, to lock up the other team’s best scorer and be both a scorer and facilitator on the other end.

They need Holiday to be aggressive with the ball, to take closer to the 18 FGA he got in the 2017-18 playoffs than the 13 shots per game he’s taken over his career.

Holiday’s 3-point and free throw attempts go up in the playoffs, a sign that he is being more aggressive and looking to score.

The Pelicans are going to need both Holiday and Brandon Ingram to be aggressive and take close to 20 shots a game each, especially if Zion is out.

Holiday has proven himself to be the Pels best overall player this season, but he needs to find another level in the playoffs.