‘I don’t like it, but I understand it’: Jrue Holiday details mixed emotions as Celtics starters play late in blowout

Celtics

“I guess maybe there’s some things I don’t agree with.”

Jrue Holiday delivers a pass against the Bulls on Tuesday. Steven Senne/AP Photo

Entering Tuesday’s matchup with the Bulls, the Celtics were more focused on winning the game than doing so by a specific margin.

Once they built a sizable lead, however, their mindset clearly shifted, and coach Joe Mazzulla elected to leave his starters in for much longer than he otherwise would have.

The approach paid dividends, as the Celtics prevailed, 124-97, to advance to the in-season tournament quarterfinals. Winning by 22 or fewer wouldn’t have sufficed, and the Celtics would have been eliminated.

Jrue Holiday acknowledged it was “a little weird” to be on the floor with a 30-point lead late in the game.

“I guess maybe there’s some things I don’t agree with, but I also know that there are rules,” Holiday told reporters. “We also want to win. We want to make the tournament and have the best seed that we can. I don’t like it, but I understand it.”

Holiday specified that he doesn’t appreciate the concept of running up the score. He feels as though doing so shows disrespect toward both the game and the opponent.

The Celtics guard clarified that his opinion on the matter has nothing to do with Mazzulla or his tactics. It’s simply about the rule itself.

While it makes him a little uncomfortable, he also wants to win “just as much as anybody else” and said winning the first-ever in-season tournament would be special.

If that means running up the score in an unusual situation like this one, he’ll do what he has to despite his stance on the matter.

Said Holiday: “I don’t necessarily care for it, but I understand it, so I’ll do it.”