NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. MAVERICKS

June 14, 2024

Jrue Holiday

Boston Celtics

Game 4: Postgame

Dallas Mavericks 122, Boston Celtics 84

Q. What's the most important thing you learned tonight that you can take back with you to Boston to ensure this doesn't happen again?

JRUE HOLIDAY: Take care of the things that we can control. Got to fight for rebounds. We've got to, me in particular, not turn the ball over and just be aggressive. Be the more desperate team.

Q. You're the only one with championship experience. What do you tell the guys about just throwing this one away and going back to what you guys do normally?

JRUE HOLIDAY: I mean, I wouldn't say throw it away. We've got to learn from it. Things that we have to go back and watch. Again, see the things that we should have controlled and done better doing that.

But going back and watching film and getting better.

Q. There's a couple of drives tonight looked like you got into the paint, had the opportunity to go up, but then kicked back out. Wondering, did you see something different from the way they were defending you guys in the paint tonight that made those decisions of pass or kick a little tougher?

JRUE HOLIDAY: In particular, no. I think they let me play one-on-one, so whenever I drive, I think they all kind of space out and let me try to play one-on-one at the basket. Just got to do better playing off my teammates and finishing at the rim.

Q. You guys have made it a point all season to act the same after wins and losses from a mental perspective, putting it behind you. You mentioned learning from this game and moving on to the next. How does that message change from wins to a loss like this on this stage?

JRUE HOLIDAY: We learn from wins, too. Wins we have opportunities to get better. Again, same thing with losses.

So not sure it changes much. Got to get home. Get our rest, hydrate and lock back in.

Q. You guys are very intentional about not letting things filter in about having an opportunity to win a championship tonight. Do you feel that played a role at all in terms of what we saw out there?

JRUE HOLIDAY: I think winning is hard. I think winning at any game is hard. But winning Game 4 of the NBA Finals is pretty damn hard. So no, I think they came out desperate and I think they punched us in the mouth, and we couldn't kind of recover the way we wanted to.

Q. In your experience, how can such a massive win give momentum to a team like Dallas? How do you slow them down?

JRUE HOLIDAY: I guess a massive win would be -- I don't know. I think role players came in and they felt good. Obviously they are at home. But things that we have to control, we'll do our best to do that and come back at home and do the best we can to win.

Q. You have clinched an NBA Finals before. You're the one guy on the team that's done it. What makes it so hard to get this last win? What is that extra thing that you need?

JRUE HOLIDAY: I don't know. I don't know. Even though I've done it. You've got to do it together as a team. Everybody has to be clicking and being, again, the more desperate team.

We've just got to go back home. I think locking into tendencies, locking into the game plan, and I think we'll be okay.

Q. Process-wise, Joe talks about it's not really results oriented, it's are you getting to the right process offensively. Do you feel like the process was similar and you were getting the shots you wanted?

JRUE HOLIDAY: I thought we got a lot of good shots. I think a lot of them didn't fall. A lot of the plays we made before didn't go in the hoop. You saw a couple go in and out. Again, just a couple plays didn't go our way.

So credit to Dallas. They played extremely hard. They played desperate, and we've got to do the same.

Q. You've obviously worked hard to have a 3-1 series lead at this point and they have a convincing win. Where do you see the series? Is the opportunity still there for you guys?

JRUE HOLIDAY: I think the series is we are up 3-1 going back to Boston.