Jrue Holiday's playoff struggles with the Milwaukee Bucks were well-documented, and the Portland Trail Blazers just got a taste. In their Game 1 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, a 111-98 finish, Holiday finished with nine points on 4-of-15 shooting, including just 1-of-7 from downtown. A performance like that simply won't get the job done on the big stage.
Holiday's playoff struggles with the Bucks always lingered
Yes, the Milwaukee Bucks won a championship with Jrue Holiday. They don't win that title without his remarkable effort and franchise-defining plays, including the "Valley Oop to Giannis Antetokounmpo. However, throughout the championship season and his other two playoff runs with the team, there were plenty of lows to go with the highs.
In 40 playoff games with the Milwaukee Bucks, Holiday averaged 17.9 points while shooting a mere 39.6 percent from the floor, including 30.4 percent from deep. Ouch. Yes, Holiday shouldered a huge burden defensively, which took away from his offense at times, but when you are regarded as one of the best two-way players in the game, you are expected to rise to the occasion on both ends.
Holiday's playoff struggles, especially in the two years following the title, were among the reasons why the Milwaukee Bucks made the Damian Lillard trade. In hindsight, that move backfired, as he is now back in Portland alongside Holiday, but the thought of adding a go-to playoff scorer after years of Holiday's shooting struggles made all the sense in the world at the time.
Holiday has time to shake off a bad game
One game does not define Holiday. Yes, even against a formidable foe like the Spurs, he can certainly bounce back. In playoff runs with the New Orleans Pelicans and Boston Celtics, Holiday showed that he could impact winning, including helping Boston win a title in 2023, with efficient production on the offensive end and hard-nosed defense on the other. He's far from a career-long playoff dropper.
If the Trail Blazers want to have a shot against Victor Wembanyama and the juggernaut Spurs, Holiday must play an essential part. He's the veteran of the group, possessing valuable playoff experience that the rest of the roster simply doesn't have due to their age. If they can get an efficient Game 2 out of him, their odds of this suddenly becoming a competitive series increase drastically.
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