Rajon Rondo steers Boston Celtics to an 90-84 overtime victory over Atlanta Hawks - NBA Playoffs 2012 Recap
On Friday night Rajon Rondo made a dramatic comeback from one game suspension by posting a triple-double in Boston Celtics’ overtime 90-84 victory. With this win C’s have earned a 2-1 lead in the best of 7 series against Atlanta
Hawks.
Greens managed an 11 point lead early in the 4th but Hawks clawed that off and forced the game into extra time. The undermanned Hawks however melted down in the OT, allowing C’s to bag the game.
Greens cheered by their home crowd had 4 players in double index, with Paul Pierce on the top with 21 points and 5 boards and Kevin Garnet collecting 20 points and 13 rebounds.
The night however was all about Rondo. He recorded 20th career triple-double with 17 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists.
"I felt good about all the shots I took," Rondo who also had 4 steals on the night said postgame. "My teammates told me to stay aggressive. Nights like tonight when I take a lot of shots, I finally found a way to get my team a
win."
Reserve Ray Allen also returned to the line-up after missing the action for a month due to ankle injury. He recorded 13 points and 6 rebounds in Boston’s victory.
Hawks stepped inside the arena without their key scorer Josh Smith (knee injury) but managed to hang tough till the end. Joe Johnson tallied a game high 29 points to go with 8 boards while Jeff Teague poured in 23 points and handed
6 assists. Tracy McGrady collected 12 points and had 9 rebounds, his best stats since 2008.
However his performance never remained the same after twisting his ankle in the 1st half.
"I know I'll be sore tomorrow. I can feel it already," Tracy said. "It affected my shot. I had no lift. It affected my cutting. I'll just go and get treatment tomorrow."
The game was a hotly contested affair featuring 16 ties 15 lead changes. Atlanta managed a 15-13 lead late into the first frame and concluded the segment with a slender 19-17 lead.
Plating at the Garden, Hawks made it 27-22 early in the 2nd but the C’s clawed that off with 6 unanswered points and changed hands at 28-27. After some seesaw action in the ensuing passage, the Greens capped off the
1st half with a 40-38 lead.
With 7:30 left in third, Boston widened the gap to 48-42 but the Hawks came up with a 9-2 sprint and claimed a 51-50 lead. They could only stretch it 56-54 before Boston struck back and ended the third at 60-58.
The Greens had ballooned their advantage to 80-72 late in the fourth, but just when they thought they have the game in the bag, Atlanta responded. Willie Green came up with a big time 3-pointer that was followed by Johnson layup
and long ranger. By the end of 4th the scores were tied at 80 apiece.
However, the Hawks failed to match that intensity in overtime and got outscored 10-4 to concede this one.
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