Rondo Near-Perfect As Celts Dominate Pistons
The Boston Celtics outplayed the Detroit Pistons in every possible way tonight, coming out on top 109-86.
Rajon Rondo recorded another impressive performance. Rondo dished out 17 dimes, scored nine points, and get this--committed 0 turnovers. Kevin Garnett continued to show his knee is back to 100%. He scored 22 points on 9-12 shooting from the field. Captain Paul Pierce added 21 points, while Ray Allen chipped in 16 of his own. Charlie Villanueva scored a team-high 17 points off the bench for Detroit.
The C's came out sharp in this one, dropping 31 points in the first quarter. Although they did allow the Pistons to score the last six points of the opening frame, Boston moved the ball well and set an offensive tone that they kept up for all 48 minutes of the contest.
Boston maintained it's high level of energy and finished with 57 points and a 13 point lead at halftime. Rondo scored all nine of his points and recorded nine of his assists in the opening half. He actually finished off the scoring before the break, nailing a three-pointer at the halftime buzzer.
Throughout the third quarter (and really the whole game) Rondo and KG showed off the chemistry they've developed over the past 3+ seasons. Their two-man game is better than that of any other big and little combination in the NBA today. Boston took a comfortable 88-68 lead into the final 12 minutes.
Although the Pistons were able to cut the C's advantage down to a dozen at one point, the game never got closer than that. Boston played hard all the way to the finish and walked away with a 23 point victory.
The Celtics play again tomorrow night, hosting the Milwaukee Bucks at 8:00 PM