Since he returned to the Celtics’ lineup this past weekend, Jrue Holiday has been playing without the full use of all of his fingers.
Holiday’s right pinky has been encased in a black cast to protect it as he recovers from the [mallet finger injury](https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/03/02/celtics-jrue-holiday-opens-up-about-injury-unsure-of-return-timeline-they-just-told-me-that-i-broke-my-finger1/) he suffered on Feb. 26. The veteran guard can’t bend his injured finger, which naturally made dribbling and shooting difficult at first.
But after some visible early uncertainty in his first game back against the Los Angeles Lakers, Holiday hasn’t felt significantly hindered by the cast.
“The first couple of possessions, it was a bit weird,” Holiday said before Wednesday’s matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder at TD Garden. “But I think after that, I just did my best not to worry about it. Sometimes dribbling is a little loose, but no effect. I have it on all day, so it’s starting to become a part of me.”
The injury sidelined Holiday for four straight games and prompted concern about how it might impact his shooting numbers, which already had dipped from last season. But those have been solid since his return, albeit in a limited sample size. Holiday shot 46.7% from the field (7-for-15) and 37.5% from 3-point range (3-for-8) in wins [over the Lakers and Utah Jazz](https://www.bostonherald.com/2025/03/10/sam-hausers-record-setting-quarter-powers-celtics-to-win-over-jazz/), totaling 17 points. He also had just three turnovers in 66 minutes of floor time, with one of those coming on the opening possession of the Lakers game.
Holiday celebrated each of his 3-pointers with a “Dr. Evil” impression, touching his straightened pinky to the corner of his mouth. That’s been a crowd-pleaser within the Celtics locker room.
“Hopefully I can get a couple more threes so I can keep doing that,” he said. “But I think it came organically, it came naturally, so I’m with it.”
The Celtics have not fielded their preferred starting lineup since Feb. 23 — with Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and core reserves Al Horford and Sam Hauser all missing at least one game in the interim — but have been successful regardless. They entered Wednesday’s showdown against Western Conference-leading OKC with a five-game winning streak and a 15-3 record in their last 18 games.
“I think we’re doing it together on both ends,” Holiday said. “The things we wanted to lock in on the game plan, I think we’ve done a great job, and we’ve done it for longer periods of time throughout the game.”
He added: “I think we’re just kind of taking it game to game, and that’s how it’s going to go from here on out. Being able to lock into details, and we know that’s going to carry over into the playoffs. So (we’re) trying to be as prepared as possible, playing against these great teams, and just going out there and showing out.”