Comparing Milwaukee Bucks’ Jrue Holiday’s All NBA case to other guards

Jrue Holiday vs. Jalen Brunson

Jalen Brunson was considered a big-time acquisition for the New York Knicks this past off-season, and he has absolutely lived up to the hype. In his first season as a full-time starter; Brunson has posted a career-high in points per game (24), assists (six), and 3-point percentage (.416). He even has a career-high in win-shares (estimated number of wins contributed by a player) at 8.8, per Basketball Reference. Combine those numbers with the fact that the Knicks have nine more wins than last season and Brunson definitely has a case for All-NBA this season.

Even though Brunson is averaging more points than Holiday, the difference is definitely on the defensive side of the basketball. StatMuse has Brunson with a defensive rating of 117.1, which wouldn’t even put him in the top 20 among guards. One can also say that Holiday outplayed Brunson head-to-head this season as well.

If you take away the 44-point explosion he had on January 9; Brunson scored just 30 points and shot 11-of-32 combined in the other two games vs. the Bucks. Needless to say, Holiday gave Brunson tons of fits on the defensive end. In that January 9 game, in which the Bucks fought back from a 17-point deficit in the second half, Holiday was major in the clutch dropping 10 points in the final 2:30, including two big-time step-back 3-pointers to give The Bucks the lead for good. I also believe that winning should matter; so between Brunson and Holiday for All-NBA, I would pick Holiday.