Boston Celtics star Rajon Rondo not pleased with effort in game-4 loss to Philadelphia 76ers – NBA Playoffs Update
The Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers are tied 2 – 2 in their Eastern Conference Semi Final series after the Sixers beat Boston in game-4. The defeat came after a late surge and a particularly critical 15 – 2 run by the Sixers that caught Boston
off guard.
Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo has now lamented the run that put the Celtics on the back foot and basically changed the complexion of the game. The playmaker is one of the best in the business at what he does but in game-4 he blamed himself for not being
assertive enough and not controlling the tempo in the crucial spurt that hurt Boston.
“They sped us up a little bit,” he said of the 76ers’ run in the third quarter. “They took some quick shots, we had some turnovers in that stretch, and they made shots.”
As point guard, Rondo knows that it’s his job to sense momentum shifts in the game and do a better job of keeping his team calm and getting his teammates good shots. The player was under no illusions of how he failed to do that job.
“In that stretch I had to do a better job of slowing us down and getting us into the next set. I had to demand that guys get into the right spots offensively. It’s a calculation for me of when we’re doing a good job in random and when we’re not in that stretch.
And in that 15-2 run we didn’t do a good job.”
Rondo is an exceptional point guard and growing into the NBA with the likes of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and most importantly Kevin Garnett guiding him has left a significant impact on the player. He is as driven as any player in the league and the player has
so far been a triple-double machine in the playoffs.
The Celtics are currently playing under very difficult circumstances, with the team down to its bare bones because of injuries, veteran players who cannot compete for the full game and still more who are carrying injuries but still playing along.
Despite all the factors against them, Rondo is only going to ask more of himself and his teammates.
“We may have lost our composure, but we’re a veteran team and we’re better than that. We should have responded better.”
Tags: