2) Jrue Holiday's defense can swing the series.
Jrue Holiday has made all the difference for the Celtics this year. He is exactly what they needed to compliment the duo of Tatum and Brown, fitting like a glove on this roster. When the Celtics made the trade to get Holiday, it put the offense into a structure. Now they have a point guard that can distribute the basketball as well as lockdown almost anyone on the opposition on any given night.
Not to mention his tremendous ability to steal the basketball, which leads to so many key fastbreak points. In the 2024 regular season, Jrue Holiday totaled 60 steals in 69 games. In the 2024 playoffs alone, Holiday currently has a whopping 18 steals, which is a stat that is crazy to even say out loud.
Holiday alone is going to make scoring extremely difficult for either Luka Doncic or Kyrie Irving but that is the beauty of his game. It does not matter who he guards, because whoever it may be, they need to realize rather quickly that if they are going to put points on the scoreboard, they are going to have to work for it.