Golden State Warriors: 5 keys to series vs. Pelicans

2. How hot will Jrue Holiday be?

Jrue Holiday was nothing short of incredible against the Blazers. He averaged 27.8 points, 6.5 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game in a dominant display. Holiday has always been a solid player, and playing in New Orleans alongside Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins often diminishes the recognition that he receives. Not in this series, though. All eyes are now (finally) on Holiday.

The Pelicans need Holiday to step up again against the Warriors. As ridiculous as his performance was against Damian Lillard on both ends of the floor, that’s what he needs to do to threaten the Warriors. Davis will step up as his dominant self like he always does, and Holiday needs to complement that with another insane display.

As such, the Warriors will need to put their best defensive guard, Klay Thompson, on Holiday in order to slow him down. Rondo will do damage with his passing, but the Warriors have to shut Holiday down and force most of the production out of Davis. It will be almost impossible to shut Holiday down, but they need to go in with the objective of containing him, as they will with Davis.

If Holiday can’t perform as he did against the Blazers, the Pelicans will struggle to do much damage in this series.