The Boston Celtics will play Game 1 against the New York Knicks on Monday. Heading into the game, many wondered about Jrue Holiday’s status for the second round of the 2025 NBA playoffs. Holiday only attended two games (Games 1 and 2) in the opening round against the Orlando Magic. For the rest of the series, the defensive guard didn’t play due to a hamstring injury.
The defending champions didn’t waste any time in their first playoff series. The Celtics took care of the Magic after five games to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals. However, they did so without their starting point guard, who averaged 11.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.9 assists during the regular season.
For Game 1 against the Knicks, the Celtics listed Holiday as available. Additionally, All-Star forward Jaylen Brown is also listed as available. During the first-round series, Brown had been questionable but had played through his knee injury.
Holiday averaged 10 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists during the first two games of the postseason. While he’s not a player who would post eye-popping numbers, the veteran guard is still an integral part of the Celtics’ system.
On Friday, head coach Joe Mazzulla spoke about the status of the 34-year-old star. However, he wasn’t clear about whether Holiday would play in Game 1.
“Day-to-day,” coach Mazzulla said. “Just getting better every day, doing whatever he can to make sure he puts himself in position to come back as fast as he can. He’s working hard.”
The Celtics played three games against the Knicks in the regular season and finished with a 3-0 record. During that span, Holiday averaged 16 points, four rebounds and three assists.
Boston Celtics’ head coach expects it to be a physical series against the Knicks
In the playoffs, officials tend to overlook most of the physicality between the two teams. In the second round between the Boston Celtics and the New York Knicks, many expect it to be a hard-fought battle. Mazzulla also commented on the upcoming matchup and expects it to be a physical series.
“It will be a physical series,” Mazzulla said.
The defending champions understand the pressure. Former Knicks star Kristaps Porzingis believes they are the favorites in the series and explains why the pressure is on them to win against his former team.
“I believe we’re going to be the favorites and betting odds, right? So if anything, it’s us who have more to lose because we’re supposed to win,” Porzingis said.
In the first round against the Magic, Porzingis averaged 12 points and 5.8 rebounds. However, he struggled to shoot the basketball and only made 35.2 percent of his field goals.
Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
