Holiday’s playoff-high pushes Pelicans to commanding 2-0 lead

Games today:
7 a.m. – Indiana vs. Cleveland
(IND leads, 1-0)
8 a.m. – Utah vs. Oklahoma
(OKC leads, 1-0)
9:30 a.m. – Minnesota vs. Houston
(HOU leads, 1-0)

REMOVED from the turbulence that marked his previous seasons in New Orleans, Jrue Holiday is in a good place — and it shows.

Holiday had a career playoff-high 33 points as the Pelicans took a 2-0 lead in their first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers with a 111-102 victory on Tuesday night. The series shifts to New Orleans on Thursday.

Holiday struggled at times with injuries after coming to the Pelicans in 2013. Then in early 2016 he took a leave of absence when doctors discovered that his wife, former U.S. national soccer team player Lauren Holiday, had a brain tumor while she was pregnant with the couple’s first child.

“He’s been through some tough times, the first year he’s injured, he’s on minute restrictions through the greater part of the season, and then everybody’s familiar with the situation with his wife and what they had to go through there,” coach Alvin Gentry said. “Everybody’s healthy and in a good place now so I think mentally he’s in a good place.”

Holiday played Tuesday night with emotion he did not often show earlier in his career. He agreed that it felt a weight has been lifted.

“My family’s the most important thing to me, and with them being OK I can come back to the team freely and be able to help them out now,” Holiday said.

Holiday also had nine assists for the Pelicans, while Rajon Rondo came close to his 11th postseason triple-double with had 16 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Anthony Davis added 22 points and 13 rebounds.

OTHER RESULTS
Toronto 130, Washington 119
(TOR leads, 2-0)
Boston 120, Milwaukee 106
(BOS leads, 2-0)