Rondo had 11 points in the third quarter when the C’s were turning the corner on the Magic.
“I haven’t seen him this aggressive in a while going to the hole, as far as finishing,” said Paul Pierce [stats], who has taken almost 300 more shots than Rondo this season. “Usually when he’s getting into the lane, he’s finding guys and really, really passing. But today he was a little bit more aggressive, taking it upon himself to put the ball in the hole.
“I just think with the way Orlando’s defense is designed — you know, usually when Kevin (Garnett) has the ball they use Jameer (Nelson) as kind of like as a safety. But when the ball gets swung as it comes back to Rondo and he has a clear lane or his guy is coming up short, he has those opportunities, which we want him to take more often.
“He’s such a great passer,” Pierce said of the NBA leader with 12.4 a game. “It’s a fine line with him. Today he was in scoring mode, and that’s what we needed.”
That’s what has been asked of Rondo.
Last Tuesday night in Sacramento, coach Doc Rivers said he was challenging Rondo to get to the free throw line for 10 attempts a game. The statement elicited some quizzical looks. Like, had the good Doctor lost his mind or something?
Leaving that debate aside for the moment, Rivers said he is trying to change Rondo’s mindset. He certainly looked like a different-thinking point guard yesterday. But some of that was dictated by the Celtics’ hideous start that saw them score a grand total of two points in the game’s first five minutes.
“We went to an open set, which we rarely do,” said Rivers. “I just didn’t see us with any . . . we didn’t have anything going. And Jameer picked up that one foul and we just decided to go basically open spread. And we told Rondo to get to the rim, and use his instincts.”
So Rondo went to the rim and, not so coincidentally, the free throw line. He made seven -of-nine foul shots against the Magic after taking no more than six in any game this season.
“Whenever he does go, we want him to go with power and speed and be willing to get fouled,” said Rivers. “And I thought, over everything, that was it. Obviously, he made great shots and all that. I just liked the fact that he had no problem if he got fouled.”
The coach agreed that 10 a game is an unreachable stat on anything resembling a consistent basis, but there is no question the Celts need him to be better than .548 from the line if he’s going to have the ball in his hands in crunch time.
“Rondo’s going to be a good free throw shooter. That’s my belief,” said Rivers. “Obviously, he’s got to prove that to everybody else. But I believe that, and I just think the only way he can do that is by getting to the line. That’s what’s behind all that.As far as Rondo is concerned, yesterday’s outburst was simply a matter of playing to the circumstances.
“It depends on different nights,” he said. “Tonight they didn’t leave Ray (Allen) or Paul, so I tried to be aggressive. I knew Jameer was in foul trouble early, so I tried to stay aggressive and take advantage of it.
“All my misses were pretty much jump shots, and I just kept taking them. I think I missed my first two, (but) they felt good. I’ve been shooting a lot more elbow jump shots, and I’m going to continue to shoot them. Tonight, the lane opened up even though Dwight was down there. “I was just playing basketball.”
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