NBA Top Five Performances, March 29: Jrue Holiday’s 51-Point Performance Lifted the Milwaukee Bucks Over the Indiana Pacers

Jrue Holiday’s monster performance put the Milwaukee Bucks closer to clinching the Eastern Conference’s top spot.

TOP PLAYERS OF THE DAY:

Last time he was on the floor, Jrue Holiday went 3 of 11 for nine points in the Milwaukee Bucks’ deflating loss to the Denver Nuggets. He did more than enough to redeem himself Wednesday night, putting up a career-high 51 points in the Bucks’ 149-point victory against the Indiana Pacers. Holiday became just the sixth player in Bucks history to have a 50-point performance.

“I don’t know when it started, but it was like a snowball,” coach Mike Budenholzer said. “He just kept getting there and good things kept happening. For him to just make good decisions around [the rim], understand spacing, some of it happened organically. Obviously, we started trying to give him space and give him opportunities.”

This victory put Milwaukee three games ahead of the Boston Celtics (52-24) for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Barring a collapse to end the season, the Bucks should hold this top spot going into the postseason.

OTHERS:

- Russell Westbrook led the Los Angeles Clippers against the Memphis Grizzlies with a 36-point performance. Westbrook performed in the absences of Kawhi Leonard and Paul George, ending the Grizzlies’ seven-game win streak.

- Talen Horton-Tucker’s career-high 41 points gave the Utah Jazz a comfortable victory against the San Antonio Spurs.

- Joel Embiid had 25 points in the Philadelphia 76ers’ win over the Dallas Mavericks, as well as the game-sealing block on Luka Doncic.

- Jalen Williams’ winning shot capped off a 27-point performance in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s win over the Detroit Pistons.

Jayden Armant is a contributor to Inside the Heat. He is a student at Howard University. He can be reached at jayden.armant@bison.howard.edu or follow him on Twitter @jaydenarmant.