Bucks guard Jrue Holiday hasn’t played since February 6 due to the NBA’s COVID-19 protocols, but he was back on the team’s bench for Sunday’s win over Sacramento, as Eric Nehm of The Athletic details. While Holiday wasn’t able to suit up on Sunday, his presence on the sidelines was a promising sign, since it means he’s out of quarantine and should be cleared soon.
“He’s close. He’s getting very close,” Budenholzer said of the Bucks’ starting guard. “I think I’m just going to make sure to not make a mistake and say he’s progressing through the health and safety protocols.”
Assuming Holiday is returning from a positive COVID-19 test, which is the belief, he requires a two-day ramping-up period and has to pass certain cardiac tests before he’s given the go-ahead to play in a game. Holiday didn’t practice today, per Budenholzer (Twitter link via Nehm), but the hope is that it won’t be much longer before he’s back in the Bucks’ lineup.
Here’s more from around the Central:
- With Killian Hayes already sidelined and Delon Wright now out for at least a couple weeks, the Pistons‘ young point guards will have an opportunity to show what they’re capable of, Rod Beard of The Detroit News writes (subscriber-only link). While Dennis Smith Jr. was expected to be the main beneficiary, it was two-way player Saben Lee who played 33 minutes on Sunday after Smith got the start. Frank Jackson should also in the mix, but didn’t log any playing time on Sunday.
- The days of Blake Griffin being a focal point of a team’s offense are over, but his impending divorce with the Pistons will give him an opportunity to revamp his game and try to adjust to a complementary role, says Rafael Canton of RealGM.
- Postponed games on Saturday and Monday gave the Pacers an opportunity to hold an impromptu “mini-camp,” as head coach Nate Bjorkgren looks to install new tweaks to his offensive and defensive systems, per J. Michael of The Indianapolis Star. Indiana will have a total of six days off between its last game vs. Minnesota on February 17 and its next game vs. Golden State on February 24.
Frank Jackson should be starting if Wright is out. He’s serviceable
How does smith still get minutes I’m sorry I get they want to give him some minutes to try and improve but he’s just so bad
Smith may not even have the advantage of raw talent with Saban Lee now on. Not a high prospect, but had good balanced step-through drives in college.
It’s been two years since Blake Griffin has been even close to any team’s focal point.
Didn’t Griffin have his brother with him on the Oklahoma team? What was that guys name?
Who starts at center with cousins and wood out? The rockets are playing my team tonight and with those 2 injuries might be the only nba team with a worse center situation than carter/gafford
PJ Tucker will be the starting center tonight, and even though he is 5 inches shorter than Cousins, he is still a much better defender.
His 3-point shooting has been awful lately limiting him on offense.
Yeah, he hasn’t been as productive this year but I’m sure that’s in part to the rest of the team
Peter Griffin
Taylor Griffin I think was his name
Josh Jackson should start at guard, where he should have been all season, and maybe Blake would have been fine if he was at the 5, instead of in lineups with zero spacing next to Plumlee, which never made sense