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Jrue Holiday scores a comeback win in the final seconds and brings the Celtics to the brink of the NBA finals

INDIANAPOLIS – The day before a Boston Celtics game earlier this season, Al Horford noticed something strange.

Jrue Holiday, a lifelong guard, practiced a shot Horford would never expect him to make. A shot Horford makes all the time.

“I feel like he's a guard, but he really wants to be a little big. One game I saw him do a left skyhook in the shootaround and I thought, 'Oh, you're not going to do that in a game,'” Horford said. “First play of the game, he sinks the skyhook and then looks at me on the bench. So that's how he got it.”

Over time, the Celtics began to rely on Holiday's post game, letting him attack any small opponent with his left hook shot or turnaround jumper. His offensive package was largely limited to 3s and post-ups. He was willing to take a back seat to allow his teammates to flourish, and had a few proven ways to get involved himself.

If there's one thing Horford learned from his season with Holiday, it's that there should be no limits on what you can expect from him. Holiday can do a little bit of everything. And as the playoffs progressed, Holiday's scoring went from an afterthought to a key factor in the team's success.

The one thing he rarely does in crucial moments is attack the basket, and he certainly doesn't deviate from his plan too often on that side of the ball.

But with 40 seconds left in Game 3 and the Celtics trailing by two points, he tried. The shot clock was still early and they probably wanted to buy more time to maintain the 2-1 possession advantage and put the game away.

As Holiday attacked downhill, Jaylen Brown stretched in the corner for a potential three-pointer. But it didn't matter. The 6-foot-4 Holiday saw Pascal Siakam under the basket ready for a left hook. He lowered his shoulder and buried Siakam under the basket as he sank the left hook to complete Boston's 18-point comeback.

“I think I just saw an opportunity and took it,” Holiday said after the Celtics beat the Pacers 114-111 to take a 3-0 lead in the Eastern Conference finals. “I felt like he was on his heels. He wasn't really expecting me to attack downhill. So I attacked him and just tried to be aggressive and got the and-1.”

When his teammates came into the game, they weren't sure Holiday would be there. While they were at the morning shootaround, he was sleeping and trying to fight off his fever. He didn't get a chance to practice the skyhook.

“It's Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals, so I didn't want to miss that game,” he said.

With less than 10 seconds left, Andrew Nembhard, like he had done all game, stormed down the court in transition and Holiday took off. Nembhard stepped in for injured star Tyrese Haliburton and played the game of his life. This was his moment to decide the game, turn the series around and give the Pacers a chance to beat the Celtics.

Then Holiday snatched the Pacers' hopes from Nembhard's hands.

“Man, that was unbelievable. That was an unbelievable game,” Horford said at the podium. “A guy like him, who goes full throttle and has the instincts to do that. His instincts make him a winner. At the end of the day, that's what matters. He's a winner.”

Holiday knew Nembhard was a right-handed hitter and would try to back up the middle. Even at the crucial moment, when he was sprinting at full speed, Holiday remembered the scouting report. When Nembhard hit the brakes, Holiday fell over, but then still managed to get in position to steal the ball without committing a foul.

“That's a typical steal that he always gets with his inside hand,” coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Usually he gets it a lot when a player is coming down the sideline, but he got it in transition. I was looking forward to a few of those.”

All the pressure and chaos only helped Holiday gain more control.

“I think his instincts are unmatched on both ends of the court,” Jayson Tatum said. “Whatever he sees, whether it's a gamble or he wants to change the defense or the matchups, he has that freedom. We all trust him so much and he's been in so many big moments that he just makes big plays all the time.”

That confidence was tested all night long. Boston's offensive defense was a disaster for most of the game and their two All-Defensive guards, Holiday and Derrick White, were front and center. Nembhard and TJ McConnell weren't getting everywhere they wanted, Boston couldn't find effective points of attack to stop their attacks, and the Pacers were about as good a performance as they could have hoped for.

Before the game, Mazzulla warned that they would see the Pacers at their best. Because the Celtics couldn't figure out their defense, they kept shooting from deep. Horford and Tatum, who had been ice cold all postseason, were finally able to sink enough to get Boston back on its feet.

“We believed. We believed we could still win the game,” Tatum said. “There was still a lot of time left. It's certainly not time to give up or even think about it. We never thought that would happen.”

As the game progressed, Holiday tried to break the Pacers' system with various relief schemes and switching strategies, but slowly the tide began to turn in Boston's favor. He would go out for a few minutes to catch his breath and then return with a new plan.

“I didn't really manage him that much. He's always ready to play,” Mazzulla said. “I knew he would play, just because I had confidence in him.”

Mazzulla trusts Holiday enough to give him free rein on defense. Indiana destroyed Boston's single coverage in the post and ironically took over the Celtics' offensive identity for much of the game. Holiday decided to double team Siakam from the corner to force the ball out of his hands, which allowed him to make a few threes but also disrupted Indiana's flow in crunch time.

When the Pacers perfectly executed their play for the final shot of the game, leaving Aaron Nesmith completely free, Holiday was able to perfectly catch him and force the unbalanced shot that hit the front hoop. His quick reaction time and explosive acceleration without fouls allows him to make plays that few can.

Indiana had two chances to keep the game alive in the final seconds, but Holiday thwarted both.

“Jrue is different,” Brown said. “There's not much more to say. Jrue is just different.”

Holiday is in top form at just the right time, as the Celtics are in the thick of the action to punch their ticket to the NBA Finals. All season, the Celtics have wondered what it would look like if Holiday stepped out of the shadows of the court and took the front seat with the ball.

It brings them to the top.

“I think I'm in a rhythm,” Holiday said. “I thought I was in a rhythm during the season too, when I was shooting the ball well, getting to the corner and dunking. But I think in moments like these, our team just comes together and we lift each other up and make each other so much better.”

All those days of practicing skyhooks and backpedal steals paid off. Even though he was uncomfortable all day, he instinctively delivered for the Celtics at the crucial moment.

“I'm fine. A little fever now and then,” Holiday said. “Slept a lot, but I'm doing pretty well.”

Holiday was in top form on Saturday, but didn't let that stop him from helping the Celtics win.

“He's a winner, man,” Horford said. “I'm so lucky to play next to him. I don't take it for granted.”

(Photo of Jrue Holiday celebrating with Jayson Tatum after a foul was drawn in the final seconds: Trevor Ruszkowski / USA Today)

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