Larry Bird's return sparked Boston to an easy 122-102 win
Thirty points, 20 boards, 30 assists and about 10 steals. That’s about what I had Rajon Rondo putting up against the Raptors last night, at least after the circles he ran on the league-best Spurs on Wednesday. Turned out my little man was quiet, helping a balanced Boston attack that shot 58 percent and had six players score in double figures in a 122-102 win over Toronto.
The Celtics only needed nine points and seven assists in 26 minutes from Rondo, who had a triple-double and 22 assists in the 105-103 win over San Antonio. Paul Pierce led with 20 and Notre Dame scoring machine Luke Harangody threw his hat into the ring for the Brian Scalabrine Toast of the Town Award, scoring 17 points and grabbing 11 boards after coming in with totals of 22 and 19 through the season’s first 34 games. Boston also won for the fourth straight time since the great Rondo returned from injury, improving to 21-3 in the games he’s played and 28-7 overall.
Toronto also had six players in double figures, which will happen when you score 102 points but doesn’t mean anything when you let the opponent run wild. DeMar DeRozan had another encouraging offensive night, scoring 20 on 8-of-15 shooting, Andrea Bargnani and Linas Kleiza each had 17 and Jose Calderon had 11 and nine assists. Julian Wright, fresh off an all-around effort in Cleveland that stole the heart of one Matt Devlin, finished with no points and two rebounds in 13 minutes.
The good thing about these Raptors, I guess, is that if you manage your expectations they’re bearable to watch. No playoff dreams, no worries about players jumping ship after the season. It also helps if you have a man crush on Rajon Rondo and secretly hold the Celtics in high esteem. Not that I know anybody that feels that way.
The loss drops Toronto to 12-24, with Sacramento coming in on Sunday for the first of three straight at home. Don’t get too comfortable, though — a five-game swing follows, including consecutive games in San Antonio, Orlando and Miami.
cool
By: james on January 9, 2011
at 2:39 pm