The Boston Celtics won the regular season, but now the pressure is on. They went 64-18 during the regular season, but the goal is to carry that success into the postseason and bring home Banner 18. While the Celtics have had plenty of regular-season success in recent years, they haven’t won a championship in the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown era. Boston’s last championship was in 2008.
Jrue Holiday, an NBA champion with the Milwaukee Bucks in 2021, described the difference between regular-season and playoff basketball. The Celtics newcomer said having “mental fortitude” is a big factor when the playoffs roll around.
Jrue Holiday Discusses Playoff Basketball
Holiday has been there. He won a championship after the Bucks defeated the Phoenix Suns in the 2021 NBA Finals. He came to Boston before the 2023-24 season to offer veteran leadership and stability to a Celtics team that has been close to a championship the last two seasons.
Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, also acquired in an offseason deal, are two additions that propelled the Celtics into elite status among NBA teams. With those two, the Celtics arguably have the best starting five in the league. Talent doesn’t always win, though. Holiday emphasized the importance of the mental aspect of the game when vying for a championship.
Holiday talked about being intense and focused, but he said that mental fortitude is what’s needed.
“Intensity and focus and the ability to really just concentrate on one team,” Holiday told reporters. “I mean when you prepare for one team, you try to nullify all the advantages they have.
“That’s when playmaking and mental fortitude comes in. Ultimately, you feel like each team knows all your moves. Being mentally tough and the tougher team to make plays at the end of the game is crucial.”
Holiday Provided Some Insight into the Celtics’ Postseason Practices
Celtics veteran center Al Horford had given some insight on how tough the Celtics practices have been since the regular season ended.
“It was a really good practice,” Horford said. “High energy, probably harder than any training camp practice we had. Lot of pace. It was very productive.
“I was really happy with our group today with practice, with our focus level, attention to detail, guys really trying to do it right, and us really holding each other accountable. I thought that was really good to see.”
Holiday also talked about how the Celtics are handling practice.
“Today was more of a mental day, still pretty physical, but I think just preparing,” Holiday said. “Yesterday, we had some full court, no dribbling for two minutes, three minutes, something like that. That was like one of the first drills we did. I don’t think we expected that.
“Lot of stuff yesterday was to kind of get our wind, and learn how to play with each other without necessarily dribbling.”
The pressure is on the Celtics, who breezed through the season, but Holiday and the team will be mentally ready for it.
