PHOENIX — The last time the Boston Celtics lost a game, 37 days ago, was because the Nuggets, recognizing that the “Big Three” was really “The Fab Four,” did a quality job of quieting Ringo Starr.
“Rajon Rondo was easily one of the top priorities in our game plan for that game,” said Nuggets assistant coach/advance scout Chad Iske, who was assigned to scout the Celtics. “You have the ‘Big Three,’ and not to slight them — all three of those guys are so important — but felt like you can take a dose of those three, but Rondo is what puts them over the top. . . . Taking away his strength, hopefully you can take away other guys’ strengths.”
That night, Boston lost because Rondo couldn’t penetrate consistently and scored just two points. Since then, the Celtics have won 17 straight because Rondo has played blisteringly brilliant basketball, buzzing up the court, getting paint on his high-top heels.
“He gets into the paint, gets in deep,draws you in and gets the wide-open kick to Ray Allen for 3s, gets the little dump-offs to (Kevin) Garnett, (Kendrick) Perkins and (Leon) Powe; he just creates so much,” Iske said.
Last season, Rondo was a clock-on-11:59 point guard for the Celtics — you wondered if this guy was going to realize, possibly during a pivotal possession, that he was Rajon Rondo, and this was the NBA Finals. But the point guard was poised and played a harbinger of a game in Boston’s final game, tallying 21 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and six steals in Game 6. Now he’s world champion. He might even be the most famous Rajon on earth.
And this season, he has elevated his game to the point at which teams are game-planning for him. As Iske said of the “Big Three,” “You know (Paul) Pierce, Garnett and Allen are going to make tough shots — but you can’t let that freak you out. But when Rondo gets easy buckets — and gets other people easy layups — those are the ones that break your back.”
It’s as if Starr was suddenly assigned the vocals on “Eleanor Rigby.”
And so now the question is if “Rongo” Starr should be an all-star, which is a valid argument considering:
• His team has lost as many games as Ohio State football.
• He is eighth in assists (7.3 per game) and third in steals (2.35).
• He plays in the Eastern Conference, where the reserve all-star guard competition is as thin as Blagojevich’s coif is thick.
• He already has a triple- double, three nights with double-digit points, eight rebounds and seven assists and, in addition, another flirtation with a triple-double Monday against Utah. That night, Rondo scored 14 points in the final 6:15, with a few shots that would make contortionists jealous, and he finished with 25 points (a career high), nine rebounds and eight assists.
“I think that Rajon Rondo should really make it as an all-star,” said Magic Johnson, the legendary point guard, in a conference call this week. “He’s so underrated.”
Yes, most NBA point guards would suddenly improve if handed a Celtics uniform. But Rondo’s ascension has been frighteningly fast. The guy’s just 22. And he plays with the confidence of, well, a champion.
Tough draw.
Not only did Portland’s Brandon Roy explode for 52 points Thursday, but in the past five games he has averaged 36.4 points a game, most of any NBA player in that span. Portland’s next game? At Denver on Monday — the opener of a home-and- home series on consecutive nights.
Still at it.
On Wednesday, it was fun to see that stat line of our old friend Marcus Camby, who corralled 27 rebounds for the Clippers against the Bulls. Ten of the rebounds were offensive, and Camby finished the night with 19 points and four blocks too. Alas, the Clippers lost, again.
This holiday season, the big man’s presence has been felt in Denver. His Cambyland foundation continued his annual Cambyland Christmas, this year featuring Nugget J.R. Smith.Record steal.
This week, there was a lot of talk about steals, with Chris Paul of the Hornets thieving a possession for the 106th straight game, topping a streak set by Alvin Robertson in the 1980s. One revisited steal stat this week came courtesy of the Nuggets’ Lafayette “Fat” Lever, who made eight steals in the first quarter of a game on March 9, 1985, a record for most steals in a quarter. Really, that day was historic for two reasons — actor Harry Hamlin from “L.A. Law” married actress Laura Johnson from “Falcon Crest.”
SPOTLIGHT ON
Aaron Brooks, Rockets guard
This week, Nuggets guard Chauncey Billups played one of his worst games against the Rockets, a team that 16 days earlier he played one of his best games against. The difference was Brooks, a point guard who played some pesky defense against the Nuggets’ normally unflappable star.
Filling in for the injured Rafer Alston, the 6-foot Brooks has played sturdy at the point for the Rockets, who are one of the better defensive teams in the Western Conference. Offensively, Brooks is a shoot-first guard, averaging 10.7 points a game, more than double his 5.2 last year as a rookie. He is also seventh in the NBA in free-throw shooting (92 percent).
“He was a good little player, saw him at Oregon a couple times when I was out of coaching,” Denver coach George Karl said. “I think he’s one of these confident little kids who some people didn’t think was going to make it, but he’s going to be good. How good is yet to be determined. The NBA rules have helped him — not being able to knock him around and hold him and grab him helps his abilities.”
Karl’s familiarity with Brooks’ game dates to when Brooks was a high- schooler in the Seattle area. Karl’s foundation, “Friends Of Hoop,” helped develop young basketball players, providing coaching, college aid and a popular Martin Luther King holiday tournament. And Brooks was one of the players guided by “Friends Of Hoop.”
