Another game, another second-half comeback from a double-digit deficit.
[recap] [box score]
CelticsBlog will tell you that Rajon Rondo was the hero tonight, and they're right. Of course, it's easy to look like you're moving "twice as fast as everyone else" when that "everyone else" is "the Golden State Warriors on the defensive end." If Charles Barkley's mother drops 45 on the Mavericks, she hangs 60 on the Warriors for sure.
My viewing of this one was disjointed, as NBA League Pass Broadband, due to "technical difficulties," couldn't show me the second half live. But despite my flowing being thus upset, it was clear to see that Rondo was the difference-maker, with 15 of a season-high 22 coming in the pivotal third quarter. The box score bears this out, too: 9-of-15, eight boards, seven assists, two steals, no turnovers.
Law school is monopolizing the time and creative impulse I need to write the way I want to write about the way Rondo is playing right now. He's at the absolute top of his game: confidently probing the defense and asserting himself on offense; peskily clogging passing lanes on defense; materializing to corral loose balls, appearing in the right spot before the ball has even been knocked free.
Rondo's second half saved a game where we were badly outplayed in the second quarter. After scoring 35 points and taking a seven-point lead after one, we were outscored 39-19 in the second. Give credit to Golden State, but also blame our bench, who came in and did absolutely nothing -- Tony Allen's bucket with nine minutes to go in the game was the first field goal of the night for our subs. And for their part, when the starters came back in, they looked like they thought they'd be able to cruise the whole way like they had at the start. They settled for jumpers and showed no intensity. Golden State got 67 in the first half, probably the worst defensive half of basketball for the Cs in the Tom Thibodeau era.
On a somber note, my thoughts and the thoughts of so many others continue to be with Tommy Heinsohn, whose wife, Helen, passed away on Monday after a prolonged battle with cancer. Thanks to my buddy Rusty for passing along this Globe story from 2001. Take however long you need, Tommy, but we're looking forward to getting you back on broadcasts when the time is right.
Enjoy your Thanksgiving, everyone. Celts are back in action on Friday, hosting Philly at 7:30 Eastern (no national TV). They close out a busy holiday weekend in Charlotte on Saturday night (7 p.m. Eastern, no national TV).
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