NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. MAVERICKS

June 11, 2024

Jrue Holiday

Boston Celtics

Practice Day

Q. How are you guys approaching Game 3, especially knowing the way you've played on the road this postseason?

JRUE HOLIDAY: Trying to be the hungrier team. We're going to go out there and try and execute a game plan, and I think most of us just try and do it together as a team.

Q. We just got a release saying Kristaps has a torn medial retinaculum allowing dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon in his left leg. What can you say about this guy who's now day-to-day as possibility to play in these Finals?

JRUE HOLIDAY: KP is tough. Whatever decision he makes is his decision. But he's a tough guy. Obviously whatever decision he makes, I'm supportive of it. But that's mostly up to him.

Q. How would you describe his attitude this morning coming into practice today?

JRUE HOLIDAY: KP always has a great attitude. That's something you don't have to worry about. He's just like this joy and this light. Anytime he walks into a room, no matter what's going on, he brings that every time.

Q. What's been working against Kyrie so far?

JRUE HOLIDAY: I think it's team defense. We do it as a team. It's not just one person, it's everybody. We just try to defend him, we try to show him bodies, multiple people, and just try to make it difficult.

Q. Without Kristaps, how does that affect the team’s spacing?

JRUE HOLIDAY: I think we still have spacers. I think we try to do our best to get into the right spacing or get into the right positions and try to do as best we can.

Q. You're obviously more than just a basketball player, you're also a father. I know your kids have seen you on this stage before, but what would you tell them about what it takes to get to this stage?

JRUE HOLIDAY: It's hard. I've sacrificed a lot. I've missed out on a lot of my kids' stuff just to be here. But the journey is cool, and I think just the friends and the family that I've met along the way has made it worth it, and the fact that my family is here with me makes it even more.

Q. Back to KP, he said the other night he thought he was fine coming off the court. He'd rather be dead than taken off the court. What's this been like for him?

JRUE HOLIDAY: You've got to talk to him. I can only imagine. It would be tough, right? Missing a lot of the Playoffs and then coming to the Finals and then getting hurt at the end, it would be hard. But KP is a tough guy, and he knows himself very, very well. Again, like I said, he's been bringing this energy and this positivity that he's just always brought, this light, and he'll continue to do that.

Q. He also said that you guys would do whatever it takes for each other. How have you seen that grow throughout the course of the season?

JRUE HOLIDAY: I think that's been here. I think that trust has been here. That chemistry has been here. We just embodied it from the beginning. That wasn't anything that had to grow over time. That just came naturally.

Q. When you're playing in the dunker spot as a guard, that's not usual. Are you doing it more than when you were in Milwaukee, and how do you prepare for that, which is different than what you normally do?

JRUE HOLIDAY: It's not any different. I did it in Milwaukee, too. I'm not really sure people actually knew that but there's a lot of time being in the dunker and trying to space the floor and have the best spacing, but I think for this team, me down there trying to make plays out of the dunker a lot of the time helps.

Q. You guys have been getting a lot of paint touches. What’s been the key to that?

JRUE HOLIDAY: Getting the ball to JT and JB. The way they've been playing, the way they've been touching the paint and getting to the basket has been huge for us, and one of the reasons why we had such a good game last game. Again, I think JT driving and attracting two or three people and collapsing the defense has made our offense a lot easier.