BOSTON – Considering his 26-point, 11-rebound effort in the Celtics' 105-98 victory in Game 2 of the NBA Finals Sunday night, does that now make Jrue Holiday Boston's best player?

Or, if Derrick White meets PJ Washington at the rim and makes a stunning block of a would-be running dunk with 50.5 seconds left to keep the Mavericks from getting within three points, that turns White into Boston's best ?

After all, we live in an NBA postseason that has created a recency bias a thing. For that, stick with Mavericks coach Jason Kidd, who plays head games while everyone else is just trying to play basketball. His twice-spoken Saturday comment that Jaylen Brown is the Celtics' best player caused quite a stir, but also opened the runway to the public with a recent bias to make it clear that, well, Brown did emerges as MVP of the Eastern Conference finals. And that, the crazy logic went, meant that Brown, not Jayson Tatum, is Boston's “best” player.

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And while you're thinking about that, think about what happened after Game 2 Sunday night, when Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla arrived in the interview room for his post-game press conference. The first question had something to do with Tatum, but Mazzulla instead pivoted to what happened on the final possession of the third quarter when Payton Pritchard, who had just entered the game in place of Holiday, ran onto the court and delivered a 34-foot. buzzer-beating bank shot to give the Celtics an 83-74 lead.

Mazzulla called it “the play of the game,” noting that “you see guys around the league pass up that shot or pretend they're going to take it so their numbers don't get messed up. He takes pride in accepting that, and that is winning basketball.”

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Mazzulla didn't stop there. “That should have been the first question in the first place,” he said. “The ability of everyone on our team to do different things that lead to winning.”

Mazzulla then went on to say: 'I'm really tired of hearing about one man or this man or that man and everyone trying to make it something other than Celtic basketball. Everyone who stepped on that court today made winning plays on both ends of the floor, (and that's) the most important thing.

What an exchange. It started with a question about Tatum that led to an answer about a Pritchard 3-pointer, and it ended with Journalism Joe explaining what should have been the opening question. It was goofy, sure, but absolutely brilliant because it had the effect of turning Kidd's comment about Jaylen Brown into an exploding cigar.

Jrue Holiday's 26-point, 11-rebound effort in Game 2 was the most important of many great performances for the Celtics. (Peter Casey/USA Today)

The Celtics' efforts across the board in Game 2 were so great that it became folly to declare this or that player Boston's top player. You could have gone with Holiday because of the 26 points. You could have chosen white because of the block. But wait! If Mazzulla had had his way, Pritchard would have been extra, extra, reading all about it. And as if anyone needs any more proof that Kidd has really stepped in with his attempt to sow some division in the Celtics' locker room, just consider how Holiday handled his affairs at are postgame conference.

Mazzulla was about telling the media people what the first question should have been. With Holiday, it was almost an answer before a question was even asked.

First some background. Asked Saturday if he had any thoughts on Kidd's comment about Brown, Holiday replied, “I don't think he's lying.” Which was taken as a sign that he agreed with Kidd's comment.

When he arrived in the interview room after Game 2, Holiday got right to work.

“If I could say something before we intervene, I would like to address the comment that was made yesterday,” he began. “I feel like people took that out of context. I've heard that I prefer JB over JT, and that's not the case. I like to praise my teammates. I like to praise my teammates when they play well, and I feel like I did my best to do that.”

He went on to say that “… comparing them is something I would never do because they are two completely different players and also on the same team, and the things they have done in this organization and the things they have said to me as opponent has done, I say: how they play together and how they work together is something that is sacred and something that cannot be broken.

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What's interesting about all this? No, make that what is astonishing about all of this – is that last season ended with Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens practically being given a mandate to build a better club team and not relying on the dazzling talents of Tatum and Brown to deliver a championship. And by trading Marcus Smart and bringing in Kristaps Porzingis and Holiday, it's safe to say that Stevens has indeed built a better team. The Celtics' best-of-show regular-season record of 64-18 will attest to that.

But if you want to talk teamand not just from the perspective of what the roster looks like, but from the perspective of his character and soul, consider how the Celtics countered Kidd.

Brown and Tatum essentially stayed out of it. Holiday turned in a scrapbook playoff performance and then opened his postgame presser with Holiday's Soliloquy, in which he spoke emotionally about his feelings for Tatum and Brown, and the camaraderie happening in the room.

And then there was Joe Mazzulla in the role of Perry White, editor of the Metropolis Daily Planet, who decided what was news and what wasn't.

Never in the Tatum-Brown/Brown-Tatum era have the Celtics been more of a team than they were on Sunday night.