Stopping Kyrie Irving is anything but simple, but Jrue Holiday may take a simple approach while attempting to do just that in the NBA Finals.
“Pray,” the Boston Celtics guard joked on Wednesday when asked how he plans to go about slowing the Dallas Mavericks playmaker.
Irving has thrived as backcourt mates with Luka Dončić and is coming off an excellent performance in the Western Conference Finals. He averaged 27.0 points, 4.6 assists and 3.6 rebounds while shooting 49 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from deep in the five-game win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The eight-time All-Star brings some of the best handles in the history of the NBA and is nearly impossible to stay in front of when attacking the basket. He also has experience delivering on this stage and drilled what proved to be the winning shot in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Despite the daunting nature of the challenge, Holiday is as well-suited as anyone in the league when it comes to at least slowing Irving down.
Holiday is a six-time All-Defensive selection who is consistently tasked with defending the opponent’s best perimeter playmaker. He has also delivered on this stage with impressive defense while helping lead the Milwaukee Bucks to the 2021 NBA title.
Completely shutting down Irving or Dončić is not going to happen, but the Celtics will likely have an excellent chance to win if Holiday at least keeps the former in check.