Jrue Holiday highlighted the significance of postseason basketball after helping the Portland Trail Blazers secure a 114-110 play-in win over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night in Phoenix.
“I think it’s always good to play into the postseason no matter the situation,” Holiday said. “I know for them maybe the position that they’ve been in last year and the years previous, there’s a great feeling. So, I completely understand it and I love it, too, because I love playing in the playoffs.”
He emphasized the environment and intensity that defined the game from start to finish. “The atmosphere tonight is the type of game that I think we all want to play in. And the reason why we play basketball is to be put in this type of situation. So super happy that we made it here. I’m excited to go into this first round.”
The veteran guard also credited Portland’s younger rotation for maintaining structure through momentum swings. “I think they did great. I think they did great. I think we came out and we executed early. We’re able to get up pretty substantial lead and kind of let him back into it.”
Holiday pointed to late-game consistency as the defining factor in a contest that tightened in the final minutes. “It’s a game of runs. And I think sometimes when you punch when you’re punching back and forth, you just got to keep being consistent and staying true to yourself.”
A major storyline was the performance of Deni Avdija, who scored 41 points in his postseason debut. Holiday described the forward’s impact without hesitation. “Feel like he’s unique. Nobody does what he does to be able to damn near have a triple double when kind of an off night for him.”
He added that Avdija’s production shaped the closing stretch. “Deni coming out here and carrying us, especially down the stretch, getting that winning bucket and being able to go home knowing that we’re playing San Antonio is something that you love to see in Deni because this is what we expect from him now.”
Portland’s composure after trailing by double digits late also stood out. “I think toward the end of the second half, we were up 14 and they going into the half we were up three. So I think at any point in the game, we know that you can catch fire and making plays down the stretch is something that we’ve been trying to work on.”
Looking ahead to a first-round matchup with the No. 2 seed San Antonio Spurs and Victor Wembanyama, Holiday focused on defensive preparation. “We go to the drawing board and see what we do. We have a lot of great defenders. We have Clingan in the paint, Toumani, Kris, Jerami, myself.”
On the final defensive sequence against Phoenix, he detailed the execution and late-game awareness. “We expected him to go to Booker… I think Toumani did a great job of really just staying in front of him and making it tough.”
Holiday concluded by reflecting on the defensive breakdown that nearly extended the game. “I should have stayed closer to Green so that they don’t even get a shot up at three. But luckily he missed and from there we got the rebound.”
