In Game 3 of the NBA Finals, the Celtics beat the Mavericks 106-99 on the Mavericks' home court, leading 3-0 and one step away from the championship. In NBA history, a 3-0 lead has never been reversed, so as long as there are no major surprises, the Celtics' championship should be secure.
If it wins, it will be the 18th championship in the history of the Celtics, once again surpassing the Lakers and taking the first place in history.
The fact that Celtic have been able to get this far has a lot to do with their operations.
After losing in the 2017 Eastern Conference finals, the Celtics are still looking for their core while having Double Tanhua, at first they chose Irving, but in the end it ended in failure, and the rise of Double Tanhua also made the Celtics firm in their core idea and strengthen around Double Tanhua.
The first is the veteran Horford, who has always stayed with the Celtics, in addition, after the loss in the 2022 Finals, the Celtics are also committed to strengthening an excellent point guard who can assist the double probe.
At the beginning, their choice was Brogdon, but Brogdon could indeed only be regarded as decent and could not take on important responsibilities at critical moments, and last season's Bucks encounter with the Heat Black 8 also changed the status quo of the NBA -
The Bucks were determined to change, so they gambled on Lillard and sent Holiday away.
The Celtics also took the opportunity to pick up the leak and used Brogdon to add some chips to pocket Holiday in the bag. In addition, they have also strengthened the interior Porzingis to fill the void left by Lowe's departure.
Overall, this season's Celtics, compared to last season and even 2022, are unabated. So it's no surprise that they went all the way to the regular season and topped the league.
Entering the playoffs, the strength advantage of the Celtics' roster is reflected again, even if the core does not play well, they can always find a way to win, after easily defeating the Heat and Cavaliers in the first and second rounds, they once again came to the Eastern Finals, and the opponent in the Eastern Finals is the Pacers.
In the end, the Celtics won 4-0 without blood, and Holiday had a great performance in crunch time, just like he did with the Bucks in 2021.
Entering the Finals, the Celtics are beginning to show their fangs! They beat the Mavericks on both home games and came to the road, and although they were 13 points behind at one point, they turned the tide in the third quarter and finally won on the road, leading 3-0.
In the three finals, Holiday played well, especially in the second game, Holiday scored 26 points, 11 rebounds and 3 assists to help the Celtics win, and in three games, Holiday averaged 15.6 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1 steal per game.
Interestingly, in the 2020 offseason, in order to strengthen the guard line, the Bucks sent Bledsoe away and got Holiday , and then in the 2020-2021 season, the Bucks won the championship.
And in the 2023 offseason, in order to strengthen the guard line, the Celtics sent Brogdon away and got Holiday , and then this season, the Celtics have a 3-0 lead, just one win away from the championship, and Holiday has once again made outstanding contributions at key moments in the playoffs.
It can be said that Holiday really has his own championship halo, and wherever he goes, he can win the championship immediately.
I have to say that it is also very wise for the Celtics to renew Holiday in advance, otherwise Holiday left the Celtics and went to other teams, then other teams may have to win the championship again.
Not only that, but during the Pelicans period, Holiday also had a highlight performance, helping the Pelicans sweep the Trail Blazers, and won a victory in the second round on the Warriors' head, you must know that season, the Cavaliers with the so-called Thanos Zhan were also swept 4-0 by the Warriors.
I just don't know, where will Holiday go next?