Larry Brown Sports

The Boston Celtics have put themselves in a tough spot against the New York Knicks as they head back home. The age of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and company was evident in the first two games of the playoffs, as they were unable to close out games or come up with answers late in the fourth quarter. Fatigue has clearly been a factor, but we must also remember that the Celtics have been missing Rajon Rondo.

Without Rondo, who is out for the season after tearing his ACL, Boston has not been able to keep up with New York’s speed. The Celtics scored 78 points in their Game 1 loss to the Knicks and only 71 in Game 2. JR Smith believes that has a lot to do with the absence of Rondo.

“When Rondo is out there, they are in a certain flow,” Smith told Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix. “When he is not out there, they sort of don’t know who to go to or [what] plays to run. That’s a credit to a great player like Rondo. When he is in the game, he seems to know two or three plays ahead of what they want to do.”

There were points throughout the regular season when the Celtics appeared to be chugging along and talking head radio hosts claimed they were better off without Rondo. That couldn’t be further from the truth, and the Knicks are proving that.

Boston scored only 23 points in the second half of Game 2 against New York — the fewest in the team’s playoff history. If Rondo was in the lineup, that would never happen. Not only that, but Raymond Felton and Smith would not be nearly as effective as they have been if both Rondo and Avery Bradley were healthy.

Smith may say some incredibly dumb things, but he’s spot-on this time. Without Rondo, the Celtics have been lost against the Knicks.

H/T Eye on Basketball
Photo credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Rajon Rondo is out for the season with a torn ACL suffered during the Boston Celtics’ loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Friday. Rondo never collapsed, fell to the floor, or needed to be taken off the court as if he had suffered a major knee injury Friday, so the news was surprising to many.

ESPN believes it identified the play where Rondo got hurt. They showed it during the telecast of the Lakers-Thunder game on Sunday and, based on the video, it just looks like Rondo hurt himself landing after jumping:

Fans weren’t the only ones surprised to hear about Rondo’s injury; Paul Pierce learned about it during a postgame interview with ABC/ESPN’s Doris Burke on Sunday. In the video below, you can see his reaction to being told that Rondo was out for the season:

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Kendrick Perkins has been in the NBA for 10 seasons and has been lucky to play with two of the top point guards in the league. Perkins and Rajon Rondo were teammates on the Boston Celtics for 4.5 seasons, and they became close friends during their time together. After Perk was traded to Oklahoma City, he became teammates with Russell Westbrook.

Perkins says Rondo and Westbrook have more in common than just being All-Star point guards.

“They definitely different [from other point guards],” Perkins told ESPN’s Justin Verrier. “They both some divas. In a good way though.”

Perkins may have said he meant that in a good way, but is there any way to consider calling someone a diva a good thing? “Diva” has a negative connotation no matter what. Additionally, Perkins has seemingly been critical of Westbrook in the past, so this comment won’t help appearances.

As for Westbrook’s overall development, another Thunder player gave a more positive review.

“In training camp [Westbrook] was great,” Nick Collison told Verrier. “He came in this year another year older, another year wiser and more comfortable I think with himself.

“He’s showing a lot of leadership. A lot of things people don’t see; he’s grown up a lot. The way he’s grown, the way Kevin’s grown, it’s helped us adjust from the trade and be able to kind of keep going. They deserve a lot of credit for the way they’ve stepped up as leaders.”

Westbrook and Kevin Durant led the Thunder to the NBA Finals last year, and they have led the Thunder to the best record in the NBA this season. Based on the way he dresses, it’s easy to see why someone would call Westbrook a diva. But it’s hard to criticize the way he plays on the court.

H/T Pro Basketball Talk

The Boston Celtics came away with a much-needed victory over the Indiana Pacers on Friday night, snapping a four-game losing streak. Boston improved its record to 15-17, but has still lost eight out of its last 11 games. The return of Avery Bradley should help the Celtics get back on track — particularly on defense — but they need to improve on both sides of the ball. According to Rajon Rondo, they also need to start caring more about losing.

“The frustrating part is just losing,” Rondo told the Boston Globe on Thursday. “I’m a sore loser. It’s tough to lose. Everybody isn’t. You’ll learn that everybody isn’t a sore loser. Some teams are OK with losing. Some guys are OK with just getting a check. But everything I do, I compete. So, this four-game losing streak is frustrating.”

The Celtics went through similar bad stretches during the regular season last year, but they wound up one win way from reaching the NBA Finals. One of the problems that can arise with a veteran team like Boston’s is that the regular season becomes boring. Guys like Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett just want to win another championship, and reaching the postseason in the NBA is not all that challenging.

Doc Rivers has a tendency to rest players and let his guys coast through the regular season, but the Celtics need to be careful this year. They hardly look like the defensive powerhouse they were a couple of years ago, and if they don’t establish an identity at any point during the season it will be tough to win when the playoffs begin. Giving old guys rest is one thing. Sleepwalking is another.

H/T Pro Basketball Talk
Photo credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Rajon Rondo returned to practice with the Boston Celtics on Monday following his two-game suspension for a fight with Brooklyn Nets forward Kris Humphries last week. The Celtics won one game and lost the other without their starting point guard, but failed to crack the 100-point mark in either contest. Rondo is happy to be back with his teammates, but that doesn’t mean he was miserable during his time off.

According to the Boston Globe, reporters asked Rondo on Monday if he learned anything from the two-game ban and he gave a simple response: “No.” He also said he took a little vacation to Mexico since he had the week off.

“I wanted to be out there with my teammates but, obviously, a two-game suspension … like I said, I was glued in front of the TV,” Rondo explained. “Hopefully I don’t feel too winded tomorrow. I think I’ve been off for about a week now.

“It was difficult. I love being around the guys. I love coming into practice and being around them on the team plane, but I had to miss that for a couple of days. But other than that, everything is back to normal.”

In Rondo’s defense, there aren’t many players in the NBA who would learn something from being suspended after getting into a minor dust-up with an opponent — although, he did leave some pretty nasty scratches on Humphries. As for vacationing to Mexico during the time off, I’m not sure how common that is among players. I suppose if you’re prohibited from being with the team there’s no point in sulking in your condo. At the same time, he probably could have kept that information to himself.

Photo credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Rajon Rondo’s assist streak came to an end on Wednesday night in Boston after he was ejected for his role in a fight with Brooklyn Nets forward Kris Humphries.

Rondo was upset with Humphries for fouling Kevin Garnett on a shot attempt, and the point guard began shoving Humphries. Jason Terry soon joined in, and the fight spilled into the stands.

Rondo and Humphries were both ejected. Gerald Wallace received a technical foul and ejection, while Kevin Garnett received a technical foul.

Rondo’s streak of 37 straight regular-season games of at least 10 assists in a game comes to an end thanks to the ejection. He ends up tied with John Stockton for second all time with that streak, nine games away from tying Magic Johnson for the record.

Rondo had 6 points and 3 assists in nearly 18 minutes at the time of his ejection.

This is just the latest episode for Rondo, who has a history of being a hot head.

In the screenshot below, you can see Rondo’s fist in Humphries’ face after he appeared to throw a punch:

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The Boston Celtics entered the season expected to contend with the Miami Heat (and possibly others) for the Eastern Conference title. They’re off to a 3-3 start, which isn’t bad, but certainly not impressive when you consider that two of the wins came against the Wizards. One of the main problems for the Celtics is their age.

Kevin Garnett is 36 and Paul Pierce is 35, which means their minutes continue to be limited like they have been the past few seasons. Point guard Rajon Rondo says that comes at a cost; he said the team struggles when KG leaves the floor.

“Nothing’s happening right. Just chaos,” Rondo said with a sly smile after Friday’s loss to the Sixers.

“When Kevin goes out, things change. Teams go on a run for some reason. We gotta take the challenge as a team and try to find a way to stop those types of runs because he’s going to come out.”

Rondo says he’s not panicking, and he really shouldn’t be after just a few weeks. But this seems like an issue that will persist. The bottom line for the Celtics is winning enough to get a decent seed in the playoffs, and then hopefully letting their older players loose for more minutes. Their players are still highly skilled, they just can’t play enough. Oh, and imagine how many more games the Celtics would win if Rondo could actually hit a jump shot?