Celtics lose 100-94 to Suns despite 18/10/7 stat line from Rajon Rondo

The Celtics have now played 10 games on the road vs Western Conference teams — and they've yet to get a win. Boston fell to 0-10 in such games with a 100-94 loss to the Suns, as Phoenix was led by Goran Dragic (17 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds), Channing Frye (15 points and 7 boards) and Markieff Morris (18 points). Rajon Rondo played pretty well for the Celtics in a losing effort, going for 18 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds (he did go 7-22 from the field, so all was not well), while Brandon Bass played fantastic (18 points, 8 rebounds) in what could be his final game as a Celtic with the NBA's trade deadline looming, and Jeff Green chipped in with 17 points.

The first half featured a whole bunch of Green. Jeff put up 10 points for the Celtics (on seven shots), while Gerald put up 12 for the Suns (also on seven shots). Both points guards, Rondo and Dragic, chipped in with six assists, as Phoenix led 52-50 halfway through.

It's hard not to be happy with the progress we've seen out of Rondo of late, despite the poor shooting night. His first step is still not there, and he's struggling to take his guy off the dribble, but man, the court vision is as good as ever. He had a few beautiful passes, setting up Bass for several easy buckets.

The third was just bizarre. The Celtics outscored the Suns 16-4 over the first five and a half minutes to take a ten point lead, but Phoenix fired back, going on a 20-5 run to close out the quarter with a five point lead.

Rondo drilled three straight mid-range jumpers early in the fourth quarter to keep the Celtics close, but then went ice cold, missing eight of his last nine shots. The Suns closed things out, improving to 32-21 on the season, while the Celtics fell to 19-36 with the loss.

Next game: Friday night in LA vs the Lakers, who just traded Steve Blake for Kent Bazemore and old friend MarShon Brooks. What will the Celtics (and Lakers for that matter) look like for that one? No one knows. But whenever these two great franchises  tanks meet, it's fun.


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