Jrue Holiday's fiery display has Celtics buzzing after Game 1 win over Magic

The Boston Celtics bested the Orlando Magic, 103-86, in Game 1 of their first-round series. The hosts outscored their visitors 55-37 in the second half of Sunday's victory at TD Garden.

At the heart of Boston convincingly outplaying Orlando after intermission stood Jrue Holiday. The two-time All-Star scored all nine of his points in the third frame.

Beyond connecting on each of his three attempts from beyond the arc, Holiday dished out four assists and swiped two steals in the first 12 minutes after halftime. He finished with five of the former and three of the latter.

The six-time All-Defensive selection was also at the heart of the Celtics' limiting the Magic to 42 percent shooting and putting only 86 points on the board in the series opener.

"His defense led to the offense. He was able to get some assists there from a steal, or a rebound, or a deflection," said Joe Mazzulla. "When he's aggressive for us, we're a different team. It takes everybody to do that. And tonight, it started from his defense. He changed it for us."

Celtics feed off fiery Jrue Holiday

As Holiday starred in a third quarter where Boston outscored Orlando 30-18, seizing control of the matchup, the typically even-keeled veteran was atypically animated.

That was most noticeable after he knocked down his third three of the third period, forcing the Magic to take a timeout in hopes of halting the momentum of Boston's 8-2 run. Holiday was especially fired up, letting out a roar, bouncing up and down, and high-fiving teammates on his way back to the bench.

"It was fun to see," Derrick White told Hardwood Houdini about Holiday's passionate display. "He was that emotional leader we had there, and it was big time, especially at that moment.

"Whether he's yelling or not yelling, we know what to expect from Jrue, and he's always just that constant for us that is gonna do all the little things, make every little play that we need him to do, and like I said, it's great to have him."

Mazzulla conveyed to Hardwood Houdini about his team feeding off of Holiday playing with the type of emotion he demonstrated on the TD Garden parquet on Sunday:

"He's an innate competitor. Sometimes, he takes a backseat because of the type of guys that we have. But I thought tonight he put the team on his back from that passion and emotion standpoint, and that's why Jrue Holiday is Jrue Holiday. We're lucky to have him. We're going to need that every single night. We feed off of his physicality and his presence."

As the Celtics experienced first-hand last season, the two-time NBA champion is at his best on the playoff stage. He reinforced that on Sunday.

"That's the Jrue I love," said Jaylen Brown in the locker room after Boston's Game 1 win. "That's the Jrue I remember competing against. The regular season is different from the playoffs. I think sometimes y'all forget that…Jrue loves that environment just as much as I do."