Milwaukee Bucks: Jrue Holiday shows why he’s a lock for All-Defensive nod

On a night where the Milwaukee Bucks got the return of their superstar, it was Jrue Holiday who stood center stage.

The Bucks picked up their third straight victory with their 120-109 victory over the Atlanta Hawks Thursday night to improve to 35-20 on the season. Holiday put in a sensational performance by scoring a team-leading 23 points on 9-for-17 shooting (2-for-4 from three), seven assists, four boards and a steal in over 33-and-a-half minutes of run.

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Clearly Holiday’s offense helped spearhead the Bucks’ balanced offensive attack as they finished with seven players in double figures. But it was on the defensive end where Holiday was as, if not more impactful in the Bucks’ win over Atlanta.

That was best seen in how Hawks All-Star guard Tare Young played well below his standard as he had to fend off Holiday at seemingly every direction. Young finished with 15 points on 3-for-17 shooting (0-for-3 from deep), nine assists and six turnovers in nearly 37 minutes of run.

All night long, Holiday shadowed Young as he looked to get comfortable on offense and tried to take advantage of the Bucks’ drop-back coverage. As the errant floater attempts piled up for Young throughout the night, Holiday was right there trailing his every move, constricting and clamping down on what little space Young had to work with over their shared time on the floor.

The defensive pressure that Holiday applied to Young didn’t relent until the bitter end. The following sequence perfectly showed how Holiday bothered Young even as he was tailing the play and how that pressure led to Young’s six miscues.

Per NBA.com/stats, Young was held scoreless on 0-for-8 shooting and registered five assists as well as five turnovers across 30.8 partial possessions in nearly eight total minutes.

Jrue Holiday has been a defensive catalyst for the Milwaukee Bucks this season

Of course, glowing about Holiday and his defensive play has been a constant throughout his first season in Milwaukee. The 30-year-old has long been one of the league’s pre-eminent defenders and he’s shown his fearsome, versatile defending when matching up against the likes of Kevin Durant, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard and countless other stars this season.

For all of the ups and downs the Bucks have experienced on that side of the ball and the jump in offensive proficiency we’ve seen throughout the league, Holiday has given the Bucks a switchable perimeter defender at the lead guard position. And Holiday’s counting stats and advanced defensive numbers, whether it’s his career-high 1.8 steals per game and 2.6 steal percentage, shows his ability to play in passing lanes and lock down his defensive assignments.

There’s been a negligible difference in the Bucks’ defending this season when Holiday is on and off the floor. The Bucks are allowing 108.3 points per 100 possessions in the 1,357 minutes Holiday has played so far and they are allowing 108.7 points per 100 possessions in the 1,288 minutes he has been on the bench.

Even with those numbers in mind, it doesn’t fully contextualize the vast impact that Holiday has made on that side of the floor and as Milwaukee ranks sixth in defensive efficiency with one month left in their regular season.

With two All-Defensive selections under his belt and having missed out on earning a third consecutive selection last season, Holiday maintained his sterling defensive reputation and prowess. With nights like he had in shutting down Young last night, Holiday reaffirmed why he’s deserving of a slot on any of this year’s All-Defensive teams.