Holy Cannoli.
29 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists for Rajon. His 4th playoff triple-double. He has 1 more than Bill Russell now!
The Garden was wicked loud. KG repeated part of his pre-game ritual at half-time, I think it helped: a 97-87 win.
Tonight Rondo showed his hand. He had his triple-double before the 4th quarter even started! The crowd was chanting M-V-P for Rondo at the end of the game during his freethrows – and that is new! It was awesome, made even better because it was in LeBron’s face. There was a girl with an awesome caricature of LBJ with a tear running down his face that the Jumbotron would show every time he would complain to the refs (a billion times over the course of 48+ minutes) – and towards the end of the game it was joined with a sign that said “A King Without A Ring”. It was awesome. Have I said it was awesome?
Also awesome, care of the Jumbotron folks: after every foul LeBron committed (that got called, that is) he would complain for a bit, and then while lining up for the FT, he would stand and look up and wait for the replay on the Jumbotron, but the Jumbotron guys would only show Lebron in real time staring up, obviously waiting for the replay. He would look down, then look up, look down, then look up, over and over. It was great.
We didn’t bring the nice camera tonight, so just crappy camera phone photos for tonight – but thank goodness we didn’t because someone spilled beer and our bag got soaked.
We did get fun little mini foam fingers! They even have tiny little finger slots. Super cute.
Tags: Celtics, JFJ, NBA_Playoffs
That is what I’m talking about – minus Doc Funk’s puppy puppet.
“I call him Double-R, the Rolls Royce. He’s a V-8, his engine don’t ever give out,” Tony Allen on Rajon Rondo.
“To do what he does at his size [6′ 1″], he could be one of the most unique point guards in the history of the NBA. He rebounds almost like Dennis Rodman rebounded, which means that before the ball hits the rim, he’s already making his move. He anticipates the angles, almost like doing math. But while others guys are adding and subtracting, he’s doing calculus,” Cedric Maxwell on Rajon Rondo.
I can’t stop. This is from Bill Simmons.
THE MAGIC JOHNSON AWARD FOR “BOX-SCORE LINES THAT HAVE NO RESEMBLANCE TO ANYTHING ELSE CURRENTLY HAPPENING IN THE LEAGUE”
To Rajon Rondo, whose series-saving Game 4 against Cleveland (29 points, 18 rebounds, 13 assists, total control over the game) was a pantheon-level Celtics performance and had little in common with anything we’ve ever seen. Keep in mind …
• Since the 1986-87 season, only eight guards have grabbed 18-plus rebounds in ANY game (regular season or playoffs). Michael Jordan did it three times (once in the playoffs); Jason Kidd only did it once.
• Larry Bird had 69 triple-doubles but never a playoff game that looked quite like a 29-18-13. The closest: 24-17-10 (1981, Chicago), 19-16-13 (1986, Milwaukee), 25-15-11 (1986, Houston), 18-16-11 (1987, Milwaukee), 24-18-10 (1990, New York).
• Only Oscar Robertson (1962: 32-19-13) and Wilt Chamberlain (1967: 29-36-13) had at least a 29-18-13 in a playoff game before, and in the past 40 years, only LeBron (2007: 27-13-13) and Magic (1986: 29-15-14) had at least a 25-13-13. So, um … yeah.
• If you read my basketball book, you might remember how I created a 42 Club for playoff performers who averaged 42-plus for points, rebounds and assists combined for an entire postseason (12-game minimum). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Rondo also joined Wilt in the 60 Club for players who submitted a 60 (points, rebounds plus assists) in one playoff game without scoring 30 points in that game. Wilt did it three times, all in 1967: 29-36-13, 24-32-13 and 16-30-19.
• For the playoffs, Rondo is averaging 17.9 PPG, 11.4 APG, 7.1 RPG and 1.9 steals. According to ESPN ace researcher Alok Pattani, only Magic Johnson ever averaged a 16-11-6-2 in the playoffs, and he did it twice: 1983 (17.9, 12.8, 8.5, 2.3) and 1984 (18.2, 13.5, 6.6, 2.0).
• We just compared Rondo to Magic, Wilt, Bird, Oscar and Jordan … legitimately. Kind of insane when you remember I was writing about him in “Rajon The Late Bloomer” terms just two springs ago. I continue to think we should dump “The Big Three” nickname and just start calling Rondo “The Big One.”