Takeaways from Milwaukee Bucks’ MLK Day win over Indiana Pacers

The Milwaukee Bucks matched up in the early afternoon Monday against the Indiana Pacers on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Bucks emerged victorious at a final score of 132-119, Milwaukee was down as many as 13 points in the first half, this game was not quite as big of a comeback as the Bucks’ win over the Knicks last Monday, but it was close. The Bucks mounted their comeback in the third quarter, cutting the Pacers’ lead to five before the final frame.

Let’s look at three takeaways from another comeback win for the Bucks.

Takeaways from the Milwaukee Bucks’ win over Pacers: Jrue Holiday should be an All-Star

Jrue Holiday has had himself quite a four-game stretch in the absence of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has missed three of the last four. Over the last four games, Holiday has scored 24.5 points per game on 35-of-64 shooting (54.7 percent) and 12-of-27 behind the 3-point line (44.4 percent). Over that same four-game stretch, he is also averaging 9.3 assists per game, having notched double-digit assists each of the last three games. Monday marked the third straight double-double for Jrue Holiday.

Jrue Holiday was a man on a mission against the Pacers, especially in the second half. He scored 21 of his season-high 35 points in the second half on 9-of-13 shooting including 3-of-5 behind the 3-point line. He also handed out six assists and collected a steal in the second half without turning the ball over a single time, something that has haunted his stat line at times this season. His double-double is an eye-catching stat, but the zero turnovers in the second half are extremely encouraging.

What makes Holiday an All-Star? The Eastern Conference admittedly has a lot of talented, name-recognition players like James Harden, Trae Young, Kyrie Irving, and Donovan Mitchell, among others. However, with another update in Eastern Conference voting coming on Thursday, Jrue Holiday is arguably more deserving than DeMar DeRozan. DeRozan averages 7.3 more points per game, however, Jrue Holiday averages 2.5 more assists per game and bests DeRozan’s 3-point percentage by over 11 percent. After DeRozan are a couple of players who are on the ballot due to popularity more than performance, LaMelo Ball and Derrick Rose, both of whom Jrue Holiday deserves to be an All-Star over. Last on the Eastern Conference ballot is Darius Garland who has pretty similar numbers to Holiday but has been playing alongside Donovan Mitchell all season whereas Jrue Holiday is putting up big numbers with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton sidelined.

In his lone All-Star appearance, way back in 2013, Jrue averaged 17.7 points, 8.0 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game with the 76ers. This season Jrue is averaging 18.8 points, 7.4 assists and 4.9 rebounds, pretty similar numbers. Whether or not he ends up making the All-Star team, we are getting All-Star level performance and arguably Jrue Holiday’s best season in a Bucks uniform.