Rondo Sparking the Offense

June 2008

Rondo Sparking the Offense

They needed him to be a play-maker. And that's what Rajon Rondo was, sparking the offense and driving the Celtics to a 24-point lead midway through the fourth quarter, before the Lakers staged a furious comeback that put the Celtics on their heels as they closed out a 108-102 victory in Game 2 last night



Although he scored just 4 points on 1-of-4 shooting, Rondo, the second-year guard out of Kentucky, more than helped facilitate the offense by dishing out 16 assists, easily surpassing his playoff high of 13, which he achieved twice in this postseason

In the Finals, Rondo has 23 assists against only four turnovers. Last night he accounted for more than half of Boston's 31 assists on 36 field goals

"That's what I take pride in, getting guys the ball," Rondo said. "Like I said, tonight they made shots. I just got them the ball."
"Yeah, it was great," coach Doc Rivers said. "I told you guys after Game 1 . . . I thought we could have gotten into the paint more off dribble penetration, so that's what we worked on yesterday, and he was terrific with it

"And then the second thing, and I'm still not very happy about it, we just aren't posting the ball up enough, in my opinion, and we have to do that more

"But we solved the first one, so now we have to work on the second one."
Rondo has exhibited some hesitancy shooting his jumper, converting just 5 of 14 from the field this series and missing both of his 3-point tries

Asked if that was becoming a concern, Rivers said, "I don't worry about it. He's getting better at it. If he doesn't shoot the jumper, we just want him to make quick plays, quick decisions. I thought down the stretch, it wasn't just Rondo, I thought overall we all did that

"We'll watch film and show Rondo where his spots, where his shots are," Rivers added. "We've got to convince him that it's all right to miss a shot and then take another one and then take another one. If they're going to leave you open, you've got to keep shooting it or making plays."