MIAMI
–
All heart, all guts, the embodiment of this version of the
Boston Celtics, point guard
Rajon Rondo
produced a playoff game for the ages: 44 points, 10 assists and eight
rebounds, playing all 53 minutes in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference
finals against the
Miami Heat.
By Steve Mitchell, US Presswire
Boston
Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo shoots against the Miami Heat during
the first half in Game 2 on Wednesday. Rondo had 44 points but the
Celtics fell to the Heat.
By Steve Mitchell, US Presswire
Boston
Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo shoots against the Miami Heat during
the first half in Game 2 on Wednesday. Rondo had 44 points but the
Celtics fell to the Heat.
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The praise came from near and far.
"He was absolutely phenomenal," Boston coach
Doc Rivers said.
"First of all, Rondo was absolutely amazing tonight," Heat forward
LeBron James
said. "The performance he put on tonight will go down in the record
books. … He showed tonight why he's an all-pro and one of the superstars
in the league. He's a unique player. He's an unbelievable player."
"Rajon Rondo is the best PG in the league hands down, he does it all ppl," former teammate Jeff Green Tweeted.
"There was nothing you could do about it," Heat guard
Dwyane Wade said. "He was out there every minute of the game. And he made a big impact."
"He's flat-out incredible. He does everything. I just love the guy. What an Ironman performance," teammate
Keyon Dooling said.
"Rajon
demonstrated last night why he is one of the greatest competitors the
league has seen in a while. He truly has as much heart as anyone who has
ever played the game in my opinion," his biased and proud agent,
Bill Duffy, wrote in a text message to USA TODAY Sports late Wednesday night.
Rondo sat down at the dais postgame and was asked about his performance.
"It's irrelevant," Rondo said. "We lost. It's as simple as that."
That's right. The Celtics lost, 115-111, in overtime in Game 2, despite Rondo's brilliant performance.
In the past 26
NBA
seasons, no point guard has had at least 40 points, 10 assists and
eight rebounds in a playoff game. Not one. Not Magic Johnson. Not Steve
Nash. Not Allen Iverson. Not Isiah Thomas. Not Tony Parker. Not Chris
Paul. Not Russell Westbrook.
In the golden age
of NBA point guards, Rondo shined like no other. He scored all 12 of
Boston's points in overtime. He played with a purpose that was absent in
Game 1 when he had nice-looking but ultimately empty stats. That was
not the case Wednesday. He created for teammates and himself.
In the past five days, Miami Heat coach
Erik Spoelstra has expressed his concern for Rondo with Spoelstra-isms.
"His greatness is his unpredictability," Spoelstra has said multiple times since Saturday.
His insistence on using that phrase become comical and even more so when Spoelstra called Rondo a "basketball maestro."
But
Spoelstra knew, after watching hours of video on the Celtics, exactly
what he was saying. Spoelstra said Tuesday the Heat needed to match
Rondo's unpredictability with unpredictability. That meant putting
different defenders on him - James, Wade, Mario Chalmers - for different
looks. Keep him out of his comfort zone. Make him think a little bit
more than he normally does.
It didn't matter. "We tried almost everything with him," Spoelstra said.
Not
known as a reliable jump shooter, the Heat, as other teams have done,
made a conscious decision to play off Rondo and let him take jump shots.
That's the book on Rondo. During the regular season, he made just 39.3%
of his shots outside of the paint, but inside the three-point line -
the so-called mid-range jump shot area.
Rondo
burned Miami. He made 16-of-24 shots, including 9-of-11 mid-range
jumpers and 2-of-2 three-pointers. Even with the Heat playing off Rondo,
he still finagled his way to the rim for easy shots.
One
of those easy shots turned out to be a controversial play in overtime.
Rondo drove the basket and missed a shot with the score tied at 115-115
and 1:50 left in overtime. Wade hit Rondo in the face but no foul was
called. Miami went the other way, scored and took the lead for good.
Rivers
was asked about the no-call. He didn't want to get a fine. He pointed
out James shot 24 free throws and the Celtics shot 29.
"I
tell my guys it doesn't matter. We can't get distracted," Rivers said.
"We will not get distracted in this series. I guarantee you right now
they're distracted. But we have to get it out of us and move on."
Rondo knew he was fouled. "It was obvious," he said. "I can't comment about that play in particular."
Allen interjected: "We all thought he got hit. I'll say it, he did. But what can you do about it."
Rondo
is mercurial with teammates, coaches and news reporters, and one reason
his name always comes up in trade talks. But Celtics president of
basketball operations
Danny Ainge knows better than to ship him.
Early
in the 2010-2011 season, Rondo refused to leave the trainer's room in
Boston to talk to a reporter. A few nights later in another city, Rondo
offered insightful answers to his game.
"You
always want to be ahead of the game but not too far ahead and make sure
guys are on the same page with you," he said back then.
He
admitted then he sometimes goes back and re-watches great passes he
made. "I know it may sound crazy but I like watching myself pass the
ball," Rondo said.
He is one of the most
fascinating point guards to play the game. He makes incredible ball
fakes. Sometimes he keeps the ball. Sometimes he passes it. But often
times, the defense is fooled, leading to a wide-open shot.
It
took him time to gain the trust of his teammates as rookie in 2006-2007
and second-year player in 2007-2008. He clashed with teammates and
Rivers, a point guard in his playing days who admits he was extra tough
on Rondo because he played the same position.
Now, Rivers loves Rondo's game.
"He's
great," Rivers said during the Celtics-Sixers series in the Eastern
Conference semifinals. "He's as smart of a player as I've ever been
around. Sometimes, he's too smart. But when he's right, he's good. His
IQ is unbelievable. We laugh a lot. Sometimes, I'll call play, and he's
already called it.
"It's nice to have a guy
who wants to think the game for the team. A lot of players think the
game individually for themselves. What play can I run for me? He thinks,
what play works for the team? That's really nice having a player on the
floor doing that."
Rondo is often a contradiction - an orthodox and unorthodox point guard often at the same time.
"We feed off what he's doing now," Allen said.
Deflating
and demoralizing losses, in the face of an unbelievable individual
performance with unexpected victory so close, can crush a team. But
probably not this team. The Celtics have played too many playoff games
since 2007-2008. Too much pride. Boston might not win a game in this
series, but it won't quit because of a loss.
Rivers said the Celtics will let this defeat go, eventually.
"You
just do," he said. "It's basketball. Listen, we played terrific. I told
them we played extremely hard. I thought we played with great heart,
but I didn't think we played smart all the time. And there's things we
can absolutely fix, and we'll do that. We'll be ready for Friday.
"You
don't throw it away. You hold onto it for 24 hours, and then you move
on. We've been really good at that. We have no choice in the matter."
Nicklas Lidstrom, seen with Detroit in 2005, won every major championship as a professional. (Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
Spanish midfielder Xavi Hernandez, centre, combines superior ball possession with a deft scoring touch. (Luis Gene/Getty Images)
