MVN - Most Valuable Network

Rajon Rondo Elevates Celtics over Cavs in Game 5

LeBron James said it best:

“Without Rondo , it would have been a much tougher game for them to win. He was definitely the player of the game tonight.”

MVN’s own Cavalier Attitude credits Rondo as well, in addition to the Celtics buckling down and winning the battle of the boards:

You know what else Game 5 was about? Rajon Rondo. The Cavs continued to force Rondo to beat them from the perimeter, and he did. I told Boston fans not to bet on it anymore, but Rondo feasted on the open opportunities the Cavs gave him.

The night clearly belonged to the former Kentucky Wildcat, as Rondo’s three-pointer late in the first half shaved a 43-34 Cavs lead to 43-37. The Celtics seemed to catch a full head of steam after that. Despite being outplayed for most of the first half and trailing by as much as 14, the Celtics closed the gap to three at the break before going nuts in the third to open up a nine-point lead going into the fourth.

And it was Rondo’s layup early in the third that gave the Celtics their first lead of the game at 47-46. All in all, it was Rondo’s night, as he tormented the Cavs and made them pay for their blatant disrespect for his game with 20 points on nine-for-15 shooting, including two-for-three from downtown, and a ridiculous 13 assists to go with just one turnover.

MVN’s Outsider One Rondo Makes a Right also pays homage:

Rajon Rondo’s Confidence - As has been the norm in the playoffs so far, the hosting Celtics beat the Cavs 96-89, giving them a 3-2 series edge. Though, Boston was led by Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, who scored 26 and 29 respectively, they would not have won without Rajon Rondo’s contributions. After seeing his minutes fluctuate throughout the series, Rondo played a team-high 42 minutes, scored 20, and assisted 13. He also added two steals, two blocks, two three-pointers, after only hitting five all season, and most importantly, he held Sam Cassell to a series-low five minutes. If Boston wants to take this series, Rondo is going to be the key.

Here’s the box score.

The Celtics had KG and Paul Pierce step-up big time as well, all breaking the 20 point mark, but this was easily Rondo’s day and he deserves to be heralded at this time. So is it Big 4 now, Big 3 + 1, or with the limitations Ray Allen has had, perhaps you have to keep it the Big 3 and swap out Allen with Rondo.   Perish the thought - they need Allen to shake off whatever is ailing him and get his head in the game.

The biggest concern was how the Celtics finished this game, and it doesn’t translate well to being able to win on the road this Friday. The Celtics were every so lucky not to blow the 12-point lead that was maintained late in the 3rd quarter through the first half of the 4th quarter. Consecutive bad passes by Pierce, a horrible pass by Posey, a missed bunnie by Pierce, and inexusable fumble by Allen in the backcourt, along with some inspired play by Delonte West, almost spelled doom for the Celtics, cutting the lead to 4 with 45 seconds left.  Fortunately Pierce was able to convert on his free throws and seal the victory. It seems nothing is ever going to be easy in these Celtics playoff run.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 15th, 2008 at 6:45 am and is filed under Celtics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.