Boston 85, Philadelphia 75

[recap] [box score]

Ever since Paul Pierce saved Rajon Rondo from his Beckham moment by scoring 36 points in the point guard's absence in Game 2 of the Atlanta series, I've been waiting for Rondo to repay the favor. Saturday night, in Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers, Rondo did.

If you're reading this, you probably watched the game, but for posterity's sake: With 4:16 left and Boston clinging to a three-point lead, Paul Pierce fouled out on a bang-bang charging call drawn by Thaddeus Young. (That's all I'm gonna say about the call.) With the momentum shifting suddenly, almost unbelievably, the other way, Rondo took over, scoring the game's next seven points. He started with a driving layup, added to it with a long two-pointer at the end of the shot clock, then completed his personal 7-0 run with a deep three-pointer, 27 feet, probably as long a shot as I've ever seen him make.

Philly's Elton Brand stopped the bleeding with a tip-in at the 1:54 mark, but Rondo drew the disqualifying foul on Brand on the other end, then calmly drained both free throws. After a Jrue Holiday three and a one-for-two trip from the line from Kevin Garneett, Rondo sealed the game with another pair of free throws that put the Celtics up by ten with 53 seconds left.

Was it at least a little lucky? Sure. The two long jumpers were broken plays, end-of-the-shot-clock jobs that Rondo had little choice but to hoist. Obviously, Rondo shooting from 20-plus feet is not how Doc drew it up, and I'm sure that Philly was more than happy to let Rondo fire away from distance. But someone had to take those, and whoever took them was either going to make them or miss them. Rondo stepped up, took them, and made them.

This game was far from perfect. There were some good moments here and there -- Ray Allen drilled a couple of fourth-quarter threes after shaking off one of the worst performances he's ever had; Pierce had a couple big baskets in the third quarter to help keep the Sixers at bay; and Kevin Garnett and Brandon Bass were the team's most consistent offensive threats all evening -- but for the most part, the Celtics were once again bordering on disaster offensively. On the defensive end, they were very good, and that was enough to win the game. But the task ahead is an extraordinarily difficult one, and Boston can't play the way they did for most of the Philly series and expect to beat Miami.

As fans, though, we don't have to worry about the Heat right away. Doc and the rest of the coaching staff must concern themselves with that immediately, but for a few hours, anyway, we can enjoy this win for what it was -- a team with a championship pedigree winning in a most improbable way.