Celtics extend win streak to seven without Rondo

The Celtics finally broke through and have their second longest win streak by beating the Denver Nuggets last night.  It took 3OT's but they prevailed in the end, with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett leading the team. Winning without Rondo seems to have lifted a burden off of these Celtics.  As a result, No. 9's run of being the face of the franchise may be over.

We ask ourselves, why can't Courtney Lee and Avery Bradley be the backcourt of the future when they defend and create havoc and fuel a more fluid attack.  The result is a team that gives the effort and energy  necessary to win and is willing to share the ball.

PP had a triple double, KG a double-double and Jason Terry made an inefficient 5-14 3-pointers on his way to 26 points. It was good to see the captain and the  'grit and balls' man himself, KG come through like that. It say's a lot about their character and heart as well as why we should be concerned. Tonight, they face the  Charlotte Bobcats, after dealing with  a game that mirrored the toughness of the city that days earlier was mired in a blizzard.

Boston's remaining championship core played 54:11(PP) and 47:03(KG); don't think Charlotte isn't waiting to test those weary legs down on "Tobacco Row". Some may say, this is  the ultimate trap game, that could bring an end to their winning ways. I say, this is a game where Courtney Lee and Brandon Bass should thrive given their lack of offensive production last night.

No one is questioning the teams willingness to do the work that is needed to keep them in the playoff conversation. But we still have to ask, can we expect them to play like this in the second season without Rondo?  There is a lot of vitriol toward him by those who used to praise him only to bury him now that he is injured.




You hear things like he is just concerned about his assist stats and he is a ball-hog.  It was Doc who added to the fuel of the assist record, when he put Rondo back in a game in Cleveland to keep his assist streak alive.  Yes Rondo has his warts, after all  like us, he is only human, a man and as such is not infallible.  This guy, like Garnett and Pierce, bleeds green and doesn't want to go anywhere else. He played with essentially one arm in 2010 after Wade apparently caused the injury in a play for the ball., he routinely drops triple-doubles in the playoffs and last year he almost single-handedly willed them into the NBA Finals.

It is yet to be seen if Danny, like Pontius Pilate yields to the pleas of the masses and ship this bum of a top five point guard out of town, whose game would be just as effective with the original 'big three' of 1986 fame out of town. Meanwhile the team's winning ways is adding credence to the notion that Boston does not need him and Celtic management is doing its best to defuse the notion that they are better off without him.