Rondo drops 22 on Golden State, Celtics win 119-111
BOSTON
When Rajon Rondo is playing well, the Boston Celtics become even harder to stop.
Rondo, a 6-foot-1 point guard, scored a season-high 22 points, grabbed eight rebounds and added seven assists, led Boston to a 119-111 comeback win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night.
“I think when he’s on like he’s on tonight, we’re unbeatable,” Paul Pierce said. “With me, Kevin (Garnett) and Ray (Allen) on a night in, night out basis, Rajon is now starting to develop that consistency as a player.”
Ray Allen scored 25 points, Pierce 21 and Garnett 21 with 13 rebounds as the Celtics overcame a 14-point, third-quarter deficit for their sixth straight win.
“We know the kid has a lot of toughness in him,” Garnett said of Rondo. “He plays very, very hard. Like Paul said, we rode him the whole second half. He started it and we just fed off it.”
Corey Maggette paced the Warriors with a season-high 32 points and Stephen Jackson had 30. Golden State lost its fourth straight.
It didn’t figure to be much of a matchup after the Warriors, who lost by 24 points at struggling Washington on Tuesday, fell behind by 10 points early.
“We had them on their heels and weren’t able to close it out,” Jackson said. “The key to them winning this game was Rondo.”
The game featured the NBA’s leading defensive team, Boston, against one of the league’s highest-scoring offenses.
“We played about as well as we could play. We just didn’t have enough for them,” Warriors coach Don Nelson said. “It was a good night for everybody. They turned the pressure up and made it very difficult for use to score.”
The lead changed hands seven times in the final quarter before Boston took it for good on Tony Allen’s three-point play, making it 103-102 with 6:43 remaining. Allen collected Garnett’s airball in the lane, scored on a layup and was fouled.
After Maggette missed a jumper on the other end, Garnett converted a three-point play on Boston’s next possession to increase it to 106-102.
Rondo’s follow pushed Boston’s lead to six and Ray Allen nailed a 3-pointer from in front of the Warriors’ bench, making it 113-104 with 3½ minutes left.
Boston, which trailed 67-54 at halftime, opened the second half with a 22-10 run to climb back into it. Pierce’s turnaround jumper in the lane gave the Celtics an 84-83 edge, their first lead since midway into the second quarter, and they led 86-83 after three.
Rondo scored 16 in the third, sparking the offense with his defense and turning it into transition baskets.
“I tried to use my speed to my advantage and get in the paint and create shots,” Rondo said.
“We won the game, and we’ll take it, but it’s a good lesson for us,” Boston coach Doc Rivers said.
Boston started as if it was going to be a blowout win, grabbing a 30-20 lead nearly eight minutes into the game, before the Warriors got rolling.
Trailing 40-30 early in the second, Golden State, which entered as the league’s third-best scoring team at 103.3 points per game, outscored Boston 28-8 over a 6:18 stretch en route to its 13-point lead at intermission. Maggette scored 13 in the run.<
Notes:
Boston’s previous season high was 118 in a victory at Toronto on Sunday. … The Celtics had a moment of silence for Helen Heinsohn, wife of Hall of Famer and team broadcaster Tommy Heinsohn, before the game. She passed away Monday after a battle with cancer. … Boston had its highest-scoring first quarter of the season (35). … The Warriors then held the Celtics to just 19 in the second, the fewest Golden State has given up this season. … Rivers was whistled for a technical in the final minutes of the second.
