Right when everyone thought the Pacers would win Game 3 against the Celtics, Jrue Holiday made a game-changing steal.
Al Horford couldn’t believe what he saw. “Man, that was unbelievable. That was an unbelievable play,” he said after the game. “A guy like that, coming full speed, him having the instincts to do that. He is just, you know, his instincts — he’s just a winner.”
Jrue’s Clutch Moment
With less than 10 seconds left on the clock, Andrew Nembhard charged towards the basket but met Jrue Holiday instead. With one swift move, Holiday swiped the ball away.
Jrue holiday with the STEAL OF THE YEAR 🔥
— NBACentel (@TheNBACentel)
“I think I just made a play,” Jrue recalled. “I feel like he’s a right-hand driver and he’s been very aggressive all night.” Nembhard admitted it too: “He got in front of me,” Nembhard said. “I lost the ball, slipped, turnover.”
Brook Lopez once struggled to explain these plays by Jrue: “I don’t know how he does it. He does it so fast; it’s like he’s not even reacting.”
Praise from Boston
Coach Joe Mazzulla praised Jrue’s signature move: “That’s a trademark steal that he always gets with the inside hand.” Jayson Tatum added more applause for his teammate: “For him to come out there and lay it all on the line for us and make the game-winning play essentially…Jrue is just a big-time player.”
Sometimes I wonder if players have superpowers.
What made this even more impressive was that Holiday wasn’t even sure he’d play due to an injury concern before this game.
Indiana’s Frustration
Rick Carlisle couldn’t hide his disappointment after losing this close match. He felt poor officiating played a role in their defeat and mentioned missed calls during Boston’s final run of 13-2 in two and half minutes.
“There were a lot of things out there that I disagreed with,” Carlisle said.
Before Holiday’s heroic moment, Carlisle had considered calling timeout but chose to trust his players instead as they pushed forward without pausing to set up another strategy.
“In transition after a miss with eight or nine seconds left…I trust our players,” Carlisle explained. “It’s more of a ‘play basketball’ type situation.”
