Rajon Rondo scores 21 as Boston Celtics rout Toronto Raptors 96-73 - NBA Recap
Boston Celtics are the traditional powerhouse of NBA but they have been very average in the 2011-12 NBA season so far. Injuries and an aging roster are largely to blame for their woes. They started with 3 losses, then gained momentum and won four in a row but after that, lost five in a row.
On Wednesday night, they proved, why despite having a nightmarish time, they are still amongst the contenders for the title this year. In what was their 13th outing of the season, they put up a strong performance and routed the Toronto Raptors 96-73.
Rajon Rondo, who missed the complete fourth quarter after he fell off on his wrist in the third frame, was outstanding in his 28:04 minutes and marshalled the team with a game high 21 points on a near perfect shooting, knocking down 7 for 8 from the floor.
"I got some wide open looks at the rim. I made some easy ones, I made some tough ones. I was just trying to stay aggressive," said Rondo
Veteran power forward Kevin Garnett accumulated 15 points and 7 rebounds whereas Brandon Bass nearly missed a double-double by scoring 13 and forcing 9 boards. Mickael Pietrus came off the bench and drained 12 on an aggressive 4-for-7 from downtown.
Celtics outmatched the Raptors in each and every department, be it shooting from the floor (47.9%-37.7%), from the long range (37.5%-26.7%), rebounds (45-38) and the dished out assists (21-12).
Raptors were completely offbeat tonight and only two players managed to produce decent tallies. Reserve Gary Forbes had 18 in his 18:38 minutes while Demar DeRozan netted 11 on a poor 4-for-16 from the floor.
"Right now we're in a little bit of a slump the last six games," Forbes said. "It's something that's correctable. We're in every game pretty much in the third quarter. We've just got to get better."
After a dismal first quarter, Toronto showed character in the second and pulled back things to finish the first half only behind 6 points at 38-44.
It was the third frame though that pushed them miles away from the game.
Celtics started with an 18-6 spurt, capped by Pietrus downtown strike, to boost their lead to 18 points 62-44, and managed to maintain the lead until the end of the frame.
Raptors, although showed some fight in the deciding quarter, but never really threatened the Celtics, who cruised to a massive win.
Tags: