The C's didn't skip a beat.
They leaned on Paul Pierce and Ray Allen for a few extra minutes early. They got a lot out of Marquis Daniels at the guard spots. They even gave extended run to Von Wafer and the slow-starting rookie Avery Bradley, who played season highs of 18 and 15 minutes.
But most of all, they got another big game out of Robinson at the point. The little man gave them 21 points, six assists and six rebounds, paving the way for a 100-75 laugher over the Nets at the Prudential Center in Newark. The C's are now 16-4 on the season, 7-0 in the last two weeks, 2-0 against the Nets, and 3-1 with Robinson as their starting point guard.
"Nate was great," coach Doc Rivers said after the win. "He was just solid. Offensively, you knew you were going to be fine, because he gives you another shooter out on the floor."
Robinson wasn't quite the offensive monster he was in his first game as a Celtic starter — on Nov. 21 against the Raptors, he came out firing and dropped 16 points in the first quarter. This time, he settled for a modest eight.
It's a different offense with Robinson in the mix. When Rondo gets a rebound and starts the break, he either has to find an open teammate for a bucket or plow all the way through to the basket himself. Robinson can pull up and shoot, and he did it with confidence on Sunday afternoon. The presence of another deadly shooter in the Celtics' lineup was just too much for the Nets to handle. Being with the starting four gave Robinson a chance to shine.
"It's easier with the starters for him," Rivers said. "He's not the focal point at all, whereas with the second unit, they want to stop Nate because they know his offense is big for our second unit. But when he's with the starters, he's the afterthought."
The Celtics were shorthanded in this one — Glen Davis was unsure about playing after taking a blow to the head, but he had to with his teammates banged up. With Rondo out, the C's had 11 players to start. When Shaquille O'Neal sat out half the game with calf soreness, they were down to 10. And that 10 included Bradley, who had been injured earlier this year and had still yet to play substantial minutes in a game.
The C's second unit was shaken up in a big way, especially with Robinson playing with the starters. But they prevailed, proving that everyone on this team steps up when Rondo goes down. Bradley, Wafer and Daniels were part of a second unit that helped put the Nets away early.
"I thought the second unit in the second quarter changed the whole game," Rivers said. "They went five possessions they couldn't score, but the other team couldn't score either. It was really good for them to see that — that you don't have to score, but if you keep getting stops, then eventually the dam will break and you'll start scoring. That's a good thing for all those young guys."
Last year's Celtics shriveled up and nearly died when injuries took their toll. But Sunday was yet another example of the C's powering through it. Rajon Rondo went down, and Nate Robinson was ready.
To Rivers, that's not even a big deal. It's just the Celtic way.
"I don't stress it," the coach said. "I probably should stress it, but I don't. I expect them all to be ready, though, and I always say that. We don't make a big deal of it — I just walked in and I didn't even tell [Robinson] he was starting. I just said, 'Nate, you're guarding [Devin Harris]," and that was that. We've just got to move on. We try never to make a big deal of an injury or anybody's absence. We just keep playing."
