The addition of Jrue Holiday this past offseason made the Boston Celtics one of the favorites, if not the frontrunner, to win the 2024 NBA championship. After all, Holiday, in addition to bringing some much-needed championship experience to the team, essentially serves as the upgraded version of Marcus Smart. However, on the surface, it seems as though Holiday was rather lackluster in his debut for the Celtics on Wednesday night against the New York Knicks.

Holiday, in 35 minutes of action, put up a mere nine points and four assists for the Celtics, a far cry from his career averages. And it seems like he'll be taking a backseat in the offense, since Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis all command touches as well. However, Holiday showed that he's well worth the price the Celtics paid to acquire his services thanks to his elite work on the defensive end of the court.

As Dan Greenberg of Barstool Sports pointed out, Jrue Holiday made the Knicks stars' lives on offense a living hell. Holiday held Julius Randle to two points on 1-10 shooting on 23 possessions where he matched up with the All-Star forward, while the Celtics guard clamped Jalen Brunson as well, holding him scoreless on 0-4 shooting on 17 possessions. RJ Barrett couldn't do much better either, as he scored just two points on 1-4 shooting on six possessions with Holiday as his primary defender.

Holiday's defensive versatility is what makes him such a lethal weapon for the Celtics to deploy, and why he ups their championship equity by quite a bit. Despite standing at 6'4, Holiday is able to matchup with a bruising power forward in Randle, a shifty shot-creator in Brunson, and a rapid straight line-drive attacker in Barrett; there's a reason why the 6'10 Kevin Durant has always praised the 33-year old guard's defensive skill.

The Celtics do not have a below-average defensive presence among their six core players, which is what will make them a difficult team to eliminate come playoff time. In fact, the guard partnership of Jrue Holiday and Derrick White may be the most defensively resolute backcourt in the league.