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Jrue Holiday plans to return Friday, and that's good news for everyone

Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday plans to make his season debut against the Blazers. (Getty Images)
Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday plans to make his season debut against the Blazers. (Getty Images)

It’s been two months since All-Star point guard Jrue Holiday announced his leave of absence from the New Orleans Pelicans to care for his pregnant wife, former U.S. Women’s National Team midfielder Lauren (Cheney) Holiday, whose benign brain tumor diagnosis was made public this past September.

Since then, Holiday’s wife gave birth to the couple’s first child, a daughter, also named Jrue, in late September, and Lauren reportedly underwent successful surgery to remove the tumor in late October.

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The Pelicans point guard returned to practice this week, and New Orleans general manager Dell Demps told reporters on Tuesday that Holiday would play for the first time this season on Friday.

Holiday’s return comes at a crucial time for the Pelicans, who have won two of three games since dropping their first eight without him in the lineup to start the season. Holiday missed the final two weeks of last season after suffering an orbital wall fracture on his right eye in late March. He has missed significant time due to injury in each of his three seasons in New Orleans, but when he’s been on the court, he’s been a productive contributor. The 26-year-old averaged 16.8 points, six assists and three rebounds in his 65 games last season, cementing himself as a Sixth Man of the Year candidate.

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When healthy, Holiday is the team’s best backcourt option, and Pelicans star Anthony Davis could use a pick-and-roll partner. Last season, only nine ball-handlers scored more points in the pick-and-roll than Holiday (536), and nobody scored more as a roll man than Davis (373). Lineups featuring that duo have outscored opponents by a total of 215 points in their three years together in New Orleans, and Holiday was a member of the team’s eight most effective lineups during a tumultuous 2015-16 season.

With a string of six games in 10 days starting Friday — including five against returning playoff teams — the Pelicans will welcome Holiday with open arms. Although, considering the reason for his absence, there’s no doubt that would be the case anyway. It should be quite a scene in New Orleans on Friday.

Now that he’s assured his wife and newborn are getting the proper treatment they require while he’s traveling for work, the question for Holiday is how quickly he can get into game shape. While he has shared video of his training regimen during his time away from the team, it may take some time to re-acclimatize himself to the speed and endurance required to play 30 minutes a night in the NBA.

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It’s going to take some time. But that’s a luxury Holiday must appreciate, given the circumstances.

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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at rohrbach_ben@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!