Celtics’ biggest question ahead of East semifinals? Jrue Holiday’s health

Thanks to their tidy five-game series win over the Orlando Magic the Celtics will enjoy a five-day break before returning to the court for the Eastern Conference semifinals That layoff comes at an ideal time for Jrue Holiday After playing total minutes over the first two games of Boston s opening-round series Holiday missed the final three with what the crew called a right hamstring strain The Celtics ruled him out a day before Games and suggesting the veteran guard was not close to returning for those contests Whether he ll be fit to do so when the East semis tip off next Monday remains to be seen He s day to day Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla declared Wednesday on The Sports Hub s Zolak Bertrand He s working his ass off to get back there for us and it s good that we were able to kind of take care of business to give guys extra time to rest But he s working as hard as he can to get back He s day to day and he ll continue to get better The Celtics were able to dispatch the overmatched Magic without Holiday who had not missed a playoff encounter since before his up-to-date string of DNPs But players and coaches from both teams acknowledged the significance of his absence Related Articles Celtics Jrue Holiday wins NBA Sportsmanship Award in landslide Celtics playoff schedule Dates set for Eastern Conference semifinals Three takeaways from Celtics gritty first-round win over Magic Celtics knock out Magic in Match blowout advance to East semifinals Celtics notebook How rookie inspired Jayson Tatum after wrist injury Fellow Boston guard Derrick White revealed the company honestly can t replace what Jrue Holiday brings on both sides of the ball Mazzulla announced the -year-old s intangibles are endless not to mention the physicality and the toughness and defensive versatility and his ability to just make winning plays To Orlando head coach Jamahl Mosley the Celtics looked majorly different without Holiday in the lineup He adds so multiple small intangible things to this company Mosely mentioned before Championship on Tuesday One his toughness his resolve on the court He never gets rattled He blows up all the things you re trying to run offensively defensively He finds different means Holiday a first- or second-team All-Defensive selection in six of the last seven seasons is best known for his skills at that end of the court which he used to effectively harass Magic stars Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner early in the series He s not perpetually sought to contribute much offensively on a Celtics organization that boasts a bevy of scoring threats but Boston is at its preponderance dangerous when he does In Meeting against Orlando Holiday scored or assisted on seven of his association s made field goals during a dominant third quarter helping propel Boston to a - success after it trailed at halftime He put the group on his back Mazzulla announced with impact plays at both ends The Celtics are - this season when Holiday scores at least points and - when he makes at least three -pointers What Jrue does for us it s elite Al Horford explained after Match The impact that he has on our band you can t measure it The importance of that impact will grow as the playoffs progress and the quality of competition cranks up During last year s Celtics championship run Holiday s production steadily increased over the first three rounds peaking during his stellar Eastern Conference finals against Indiana First round vs Miami points rebounds assists steals shooting on -pointers East semis vs Cleveland points rebounds assists steals shooting on -pointers East finals vs Indiana points rebounds assists steals shooting on -pointers NBA Finals vs Dallas points rebounds assists steals shooting on -pointers Mazzulla who tends to be tight-lipped about Celtics injury information has not indicated whether he expects to have Holiday back for the East semis That series tips off next Monday against the New York Knicks or Detroit Pistons I know Jrue s a tough guy and I know he ll do whatever it takes to put himself and our band in the best position to win and also do what s best for him by him Mazzulla announced on So he s getting better and better each day and we ll see how he progresses