Rondo's triple-double pushes Celtics past Cavs to even series
Fans cheers as Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo (9) runs back upcourt after scoring against the Cleveland Cavaliers during Game 4 in a second-round NBA basketball playoff series in Boston on Sunday, May 9, 2010. The Celtics won 97-87. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) Credit: AP Photo/Elise Amendola
BOSTON - Never mind LeBron James, when does Rajon Rondo become a free agent?
The Celtics guard, once the apprentice on the 2008 championship team centered around the Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, has taken ownership of this team now and its chances to pull off a major upset over James' Cavaliers. Rondo had a stellar triple-double - 29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists - to lead Boston to a 97-87 win in Game 4 Sunday at TD Garden to tie this Eastern Conference semifinal series at 2.
"He was absolutely sensational," Celtics coach Doc Rivers said.
So much so that James, an all-defensive player, said he should guard Rondo in Game 5 Tuesday in Cleveland.
"It's something that maybe we should explore," James said, "because he's dominating this series."
Rondo, the youngest player on this aging Celtics team, is averaging 21.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 13 assists in the four games. His triple double - his first of this season's playoffs and fourth career playoff triple-double - was the third-highest in NBA playoff history per category. Only Oscar Robertson (32 points, 19 rebounds and 13 assists on March 26, 1963) and Wilt Chamberlain (29 points, 36 rebounds and 13 assists on April 11, 1967) had bigger overall performances.
Meanwhile, after a 38-point performance in the 124-95 win in Game 3 Friday, James never seemed to similarly impose his will in this game, especially early on. He finished close to a triple-double of his own, with 22 points, nine rebounds and eight assists, but also had seven turnovers - which he said were "uncharacteristic of myself" - and left Cavaliers coach Mike Brown carefully talking around questions about his team's surprising lack of intensity. Boston had 13 second-chance points to none by Cleveland.
James (who, by the way, sported a Yankees cap after the game) contended that the intensity was there and pointed to 39 free-throw attempts as an example. He then took a not-so veiled shot at Brown when he said he was "kind of surprised to not see [Shaquille O'Neal] on the court the whole fourth quarter" despite the fact that he had five fouls. Shaq (17 points) was 7-for-11 from the line. James was 8-for-11.
But perhaps the most underrated statistic in the game was Cleveland's 4-for-21 effort from three-point range because long-range shots mean long rebounds, which Rondo (14 defensive rebounds) says is the key to getting his team into their offense.
The Celtics had 23 fast-break points, including two that came off a counter to James' trademark chase-down block play. Late in the third quarter, Rondo let James sail past as he flipped a behind-the-back feed to Tony Allen for a dunk with 1:07 left in the quarter to snap a 70-all tie. That was in the midst of a 15-2 run that pushed the Celtics to an 84-72 lead.
Cleveland was able to cut it to 86-85 after a free throw by Anderson Varejao with 2:43 left in the game, but then Rondo hit Pierce on a cut for a dunk with 2:31 left and scored on his fourth offensive rebound of the game with 1:34 left to seal it.
Rondo's overall performance was maddening enough for the Cavs, who thought they figured out how to stop him in Game 3 with the longer, taller Anthony Parker defending him. But the fact that a 6-1 guard was able to get so many rebounds was infuriating to the Cavs, who were the NBA's best rebounding team during the regular season.
"It starts with Rondo," James said. "He's kind of their energy who really gets them going . . . Rondo was definitely the difference-maker."
Suns sweep Spurs
Steve Nash scored 20 points and played with a right eye that was swollen shut as Phoenix swept host San Antonio from the Western Conference semifinals with a 107-101 victory. Amare Stoudemire led the way with 29 points to help the Suns get past the Spurs in the playoffs for the first time in five tries.
Nash's right eye needed six stitches after taking an errant elbow from Tim Duncan.
Former Detroit player Bill Laimbeer and former Toronto coach Sam Mitchell met with the Philadelphia 76ers in Dallas to discuss the team's vacant coaching job. Mitchell coached the Raptors for four full seasons and was the NBA coach of the year in 2006-07.
- AP
