Rondo, Celts Take Game 4 In OT 93-91

Rondo, Celts Take Game 4 In OT 93-91

For all of the talk about the “Big Three,” the Boston Celtics are now Rajon Rondo’s team.

In all due respect to the great Kevin Garnett, the great Paul Pierce and the great Ray Allen, this team’s success hinges almost solely on the play of their mercurial point guard.

Despite the fact that he has an inconsistent jump shot, Rajon Rondo has become one of the most difficult players to defend in the NBA. He has become the premier maestro of the hardwood.

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Rondo can do it all. He can score, he can rebound and he can certainly pass. In Sunday night’s 93-91 game 4 overtime win over the Miami Heat, Rondo had what has almost become a ho-hum game by his own lofty standards finishing with 15 points, 15 assists and 5 rebounds.

What makes Rondo so difficult for Miami and every other team in the league to deal with is his ability to make you pay no matter how you decide to defend him.

If you guard him closely, he will use his quickness to go right by you and either get to the rim or draw the defense and dish. If you sag off of him defensively, you give him that much more room to create offense for either himself or for others. Or, as he showed in game 2 at Miami, he can also heat up on occasion and drop 44 on you.

In Boston's game 3 win over the Heat, Miami made a furious rally to cut a 24-point deficit to single digits in the 4th.  With every fan inside the TD Garden on the edge of their seats, Rondo was the one who made the big plays down the stretch to seal the victory.

Maybe the ultimate sign of respect for his talents came late in the first half Sunday night when Heat coach Erik Spoelstra decided to put his best defender LeBron James on Rondo.

Rajon Rondo isn’t just the future of the Boston Celtics, he’s the present too. It’s no longer about the “Big Three” or even the “Big Four.” It’s about the “Big One” – Rajon Rondo.

NOTES:

-LeBron James must be having flashbacks to his days in Cleveland because for the past couple of games, it seems as if he’s the only one on his team producing consistently. James finished game 4 with 29 points but he has to be wondering where his buddy Dwayne Wade’s head has been of late? Wade did finish with 20 points but they didn't come easy for the Heat star.  It’s no coincidence that Miami took control of their conference semifinal series with Indiana once James AND Wade started producing at a high level. James has carried that great play into this series with Boston while Wade has not. The Miami guard has played well in spurts but not consistently which is one of the reasons that Boston has been able to even this series up at 2-2 heading back to south Florida.

-For the second straight game, Boston received a major contribution from its bench. This time it was Keyon Dooling who provided the spark. Dooling connected on three 3’s off the bench finishing with 10 points.

-As much as we have sung the praises of Rajon Rondo, it is also worth pointing out that Boston needs to figure out a way to do a better job of playing better when Kevin Garnett goes to the bench for a breather. Boston is a +18 through the first four games when Garnett is on the floor. They are a -24 against the Heat when Garnett is on the bench.

-The third quarter has been a huge problem for Boston in this series. Last night, Miami outscored Boston 21-12 in the third.  The Celtics have been outscored by Miami 103-79 in the third through the first 4 games of the series. If you take away Boston’s dominant game 3 win, Miami has outscored the Celtics 82-49 in the third quarter of the other three games.

-Miami's defense held Boston to just 28 points in the second half Sunday night excluding overtime.

-Paul Pierce had 23 points and 6 rebounds before he fouled out in overtime. Ray Allen had 16 and Kevin Garnett had a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds in game 4 for Boston.  Brandon Bass finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds.

-Game 5 of the series will be played Tuesday night in Miami at 8:30pm.