Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard: Noticeable performances from 19th April NBA Playoffs games (Part 1)
On April 19th, 2011, three games took place in the first round playoff series, which Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic and Dallas Mavericks made their own. Let us
review the contributions made by players in those games and see whose performance really did make a difference:
New York Knicks, 93 vs. Boston Celtics, 96
Rondo on fire
Rajon Rondo definitely needs applause for his performance in the Boston Celtics 2nd consecutive victory over the New York Knicks in the best of seven series.
It is a fact that his presence has been adding a sense of relief to the C’s, who have been a little off colour in the post season. The 25-year-old point guard finished the game with 30 points, seven assists and four rebounds. Adding to the misery of the shorthanded
Knicks, he also made two crucial steals in the 42 minutes he played. The player recorded a tenacious 13-for-23 shooting from the field and also pinned in 4-of-7 free throws in the win.
Pierce’s stunning performance
Paul Pierce definitely gave the Knicks some hard time. The player registered 20 points and grabbed five boards in 45 minutes of action. The most mercurial cog of the Boston
big three also blocked two shots, made a steal and went 8-of-18 shots from the field.
Allen’s 18 clinches
Ray Allen added 18 points in 38 plus minutes of action. League leader in three-pointers, the shooting guard netted all four of his three-pointers and clinched 6-of-8 shots
off the field.
Garnett’s 12-10
Kevin Garnett was the only Boston player on the night to score a double-double. The lanky power forward scored 12 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, dished out six assists and
also came up with a game-breaking steal down the stretch. Not only that, but it was Garnett’s go away hook shot gave the Celtics lead for good with just 12 seconds remaining in game.
Anthony making up for missing teammates
While the Celtics were enjoying some great shooting from Big Three and Rondo, the Knicks were fighting with a depleted squad without Amar’e Stoudemire (back spasms) and
Chauncey Billups (sprained left knee). At that point, the only saviour they could look onto was in the shape of Carmelo Anthony. The All-Star forward overcame his game – 1 slump to tie his regular season high score of 42 points. He also complemented it with
a game high 17 rebounds in a span of 43 plus minutes. The 26-year-old small forward dished out six assists and just gave one turnover in the loss. The player also knocked down four three-pointers along and went 10-of-11 free from the free throw line. Although
the Knicks lost out again by a narrow margin, Anthony was confident about his next games and openly challenged the Celtics by saying, “The Celtics didn't do anything special, they won two games on their home court. Now it's our turn to do the same thing."
Douglas in his usual filling in for teammate’s role
Toney Douglas started the game in place of Billups and scored 14 points in 34 minutes of action. The player also grabbed seven rebounds to go along with two assists in the
loss.
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