Take one guess at who it is.
The answer is Rajon Rondo, the guy who probably won’t make the all-star team behind non-deservers like, say, Allen Iverson.
Since Paul Pierce went out with a knee infection on Dec. 25 — followed on Dec. 30 by Kevin Garnett, who’s still out with a hyperextended right knee — Rondo has taken over, averaging 20.5 points, 9.4 assists, five rebounds and two steals over his last eight starts (mind you, he sat a game, too, with a hamstring injury back on Jan. 2).
Granted, the C’s lost five of those eight contests, including a three-game skid on the road against the Clippers (who are terrible), Warriors (again, terrible) and Suns at the end of December.
But, given that Pierce, KG, Marquis Daniels, Rasheed Wallace and Glen Davis all missed at least one of those games, the C’s don’t have much to be ashamed of when it comes to their performance.
They beat Orlando on the road without Pierce and Daniels; only narrowly lost those back-to-back late-night road outings against L.A. and Golden State; beat a very good Miami team with Garnett shelved; and kept it close twice with an even better Atlanta team, including Monday’s outing in which Brian Scalabrine started in place of the injured Wallace.
Boston, in other words, is competing admirably against some of the East’s top teams with a makeshift lineup (sorry, Scal fans, but anytime he starts, we’re talking serious makeshift).
“The sum of our parts is what makes us great,” Ray Allen said after a heart-stopping overtime win against the Heat on Wednesday. “When somebody goes down, somebody else has to step up, and other guys have and will in the future.”
Thus far, the guy doing most of the “stepping up,” the key to that keep-it-close ability the Celtics have demonstrated over their injury-plagued run isn’t Pierce or Allen or Kendrick Perkins or Wallace.
It’s the little guy with a big heart and inhumanly wide wingspan. Rondo’s learned to facilitate not just the Big Three, but the role players, too — guys like Tony Allen and Scal who’ve had to fill in for the ailing KG and Pierce. It’s why his assists numbers haven’t dropped as his scoring has risen.
Even with Pierce now back in the lineup, Rondo’s continued to assert himself on offense, scoring 20-plus in three of his last four outings on a ridiculous 61.2-percent shooting. That ability to get to the rim and deliver high-percentage shots opens lanes for Pierce and Ray Allen, who are a combined 18-of-42 (43 percent) from 3-point range over that same four-game stretch. Coincidence? Methinks not.
“He’s our energy beacon,” coach Doc Rivers said after Boston’s win on the road over Toronto on Sunday night, a game in which Rondo logged a triple-double of 22 points, 13 dimes and 10 boards to go with four steals. “Without him, I don’t know where we’re going to get it from.”
Not from the Big Three.
Let’s face it: They’re old. KG’s due back in 10 days, but who knows how long he’ll last after that? Pierce and Allen are too calm and collected to be the energy guys, the very type of player the C’s need to overcome their Kryptonite — fast-break teams with lots of athleticism, such as the Atlanta Hawks, who’ve now taken 3-of-3 from Boston, including two at the Garden.
Which leads us to a conclusion: With the club hobbled by injury and other teams around the East catching up, Rondo has become the key. He carried Boston on his back against the Bulls in Round 1 of the 2009 postseason, and then almost managed to do it again against Orlando.
Question is, can Rondo do it for an entire season? Can he play well enough to allow Allen, Pierce and KG the rest they’ll need down the stretch? Can he keep them in position for home-court advantage throughout the playoffs? Celtics Nation better hope so, because, as it stands now, all hopes for Banner No. 18 rest in Rajon Rondo’s oversized hands.
