There is no coincident for Rajon Rondo's excelled performance (on both ends of the floor), in the absence of Garnett and Ray Allen.
In the Orlando's game, he scores 15, added 5 assists, 6 steals and 5 rebounds (but 3 turnovers). Two nights later against the Miami Heat, he scores 23, added 3 assists, 1 steal and 6 rebounds (only 1 turnover).
While these opposing team point-guards are not the top-tier of the league, the key is that they find it difficult to match Rondo's speed and pace of the game.
With two (Garnett and Allen) of the three options for offence no longer available, Rondo is stepping up his game. He is now running the offence, instead of shepherding, using his quickness dribbling and maneuvering in the lane, and making passes to get his teammates open look. Take a look at the last game stats, three other teammates have scored 20 or above and none of them is Pierce.
Rondo is also driving more to the basket, getting contacts and foul-calls, which means more FT attempts (12 in last two games). His FT accuracy has also improved to over 80% in those games.
(AP Photo/Luis M. Alvarez)
"This isn't to say that Rondo is now The Man or that a few good weeks validate him as a star of any sort. He still has plenty of a ways to go. But he has grown as a player throughout the season, and in the absence of some of the big names on this team of late, he has shown that he is most certainly a very legitimate point guard in this league, and he has demonstrated that there is reason to believe that he can be far more than that in the long term. It is time to free Rajon Rondo, to let his penetration abilities drive the offense, to run screen-and-rolls that force teams to make quick decisions regarding how to cover him around the screens, which will undoubtedly lead to quite a share of open Rondo drives or easy passes for lay-ups."
