Jrue Vacation is set to miss his second straight recreation of the postseason. The Boston Celtics veteran sat out of the group’s April 25 loss to the Orlando Magic as a result of a hamstring damage. He has now been dominated out of recreation 4 between the 2 groups on Sunday.
The Celtics are 14-7 with out Vacation within the rotation this season. Six of these losses got here throughout the common season. Nevertheless, it is price noting that when Jaylen Brown has missed video games, the group is 15-4. When Jayson Tatum has been out, they’re 8-2.
Merely put, Vacation is a vital piece of Boston’s rotation. He is the glue. Not solely does he anchor the perimeter protection, however he additionally switches one-through-five and plugs gaps on the offensive finish. In a single recreation, he’ll function within the dunker spot, spacing the ground alongside the baseline. And within the subsequent, he is flattening nook threes, or working as an inverted roll man.
Holiday’s versatility unlocks plenty of what Boston does nicely.
It is smart, then, that the Celtics’ first lack of the postseason got here in a recreation the place Vacation was in avenue garments.
Orlando has been dominating the physicality battle between these two groups. Vacation thrives in these varieties of environments. With out him, Boston should dig deep and discover a approach to match the aggression Orlando is exhibiting. The very last thing Joe Mazzulla can afford is for the Magic to tie the sequence up at 2-2.
As such, the Celtics will undoubtedly be counting down the times till Vacation is cleared to return to the rotation. He is probably not one of many group’s high stars, however for this particular sequence, his talent set is invaluable.
Now that he is been dominated out for Sunday, Boston should discover a approach to safe a win and return to the TD Backyard for what might be a close-out recreation. In what tasks to be a deep postseason run for the reigning champions, letting this sequence go to 6 or seven video games may show pricey additional down the road.
Vacation’s damage could not have come at a extra inopportune time.
