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Rajon Rondo makes the Boston Celtics work.
Sure, Paul Pierce made the big clutch shots at the end of regulation last night and again at the end of overtime, but Rondo is the reason they were even in the game. Rondo takes pressure off of Pierce during the game so that he can do what he does at the end of the game.
In the five post-season games this year, Rajon Rondo is averaging a triple-double (24-10-11). That’s ridiculous. He also happens to be in the top-10 in scoring (8th), rebounding (8th), assists (3rd), steals (2nd, behind my boy Mario Chalmers), minutes played (3rd), assis-to-turnover ratio (8th), and is 16th in FG%. In other words, he’s been incredibly productive and incredibly efficient.
Just to put it in perspective, the only other players in the playoffs with even a double-double average are: Yao Ming (16-11-1), Joakim Noah (11-12-3), Chris Paul (23-6-11), Dwight Howard (24-16-1), LeBron James (32-11-8), Lamar Odom ( 18-11-2), Carlos Boozer (21-13-2), and Deron Williams (20-4-11). That means nobody from the Hawks, Mavs, Nuggets, Pistons, Lakers, Heat (sorry, HEAT), 76ers, Trailblazers, or Spurs is even averaging a double-double. Did I mention the only person on that list that Rondo is taller than is Chris Paul (by a whole, stinking inch). Also, how disturbing is it to see Joakim Noah’s name in that list?
Of course, straight stat-line statistics are a little misleading, since they don’t account for the pace or length of the game (especially since there have been four overtime periods in five of the Bulls/Celtics games and those games are already played at a frenetic pace), but even in a tempo-free stat like Win Shares (found at Basketball Reference) Rondo is impressively in the top-4 with 1.4 Win Shares behind LeBron (1.6), Chauncy (1.5), and Dwight (1.5).
Kid’s on fire.
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