Rajon Rondo. “About time.”
by Matt Lawyue / @mlawyue
First and foremost, Happy Mother’s Day from myself and the entire SLAMfam.
See you’re, unbreakable, unmistakable
Highly capable, lady that’s makin’ loot
A livin’ legend too, just look at what heaven do
Send us an angel, and I thank you (Hey Mama) – Hey Mama by Kanye West
Pregame
During the four hour Boltbus ride Sunday morning from Penn Station to South Station, besides battling the hangover demon that haunts many a man/woman, I contemplated what the theme of this Game Notes should be. It went something like this:
-Ben Collins screwed us all with his Cavs/Celtics Game 3 Recap. Whatever I write, I have to step my game up.
-I promise you stomach, I’ll never mix drinks like that again.
-This is a must win game for the Celtics. Going down 3-1 and heading back to Cleveland would be disastrous for Doc and his squad.
-If I take one more bite of this bagel, it’s going to come out both ends. (TMI, Matt.)
-Enough Drake. I can’t listen to him anymore. Next song…
Not to flex but to protect my neck like the Wu-Tang.
Self-preservation is the rule when you do aim.
Or get in something more sinister.
You gotta be the finisher to make it sure the doctors, they can’t replenish him.
Or bring him back to life.
Back to reality.
And there it is. The theme of this Game Notes. Big Boi, you’ve done it again. Good to know somebody’s still reppin’ the A (yes cheap shot at Lang’s Hawks). Six sentences from Shutterbugg has eloquently said more about this pivotal Game 4 than any writer could have. If you read the lines carefully, you’ll notice something.
Not to flex but to protect (home court) my neck like the Wu-Tang.
Self-preservation (Boston’s playoff life) is the rule when you (LeBron and Co.) do aim.
Or get in something more sinister (consistency from Boston).
You (Cleveland) gotta be the finisher to make it sure the doctors (Doc Rivers ironically), they can’t replenish him.
Or bring him (Paul Pierce, KG, Ray Allen) back to life.
Back to reality (Championship form).
Theme in hand, I stroll down to the Cavs locker room. On a table there are 5 oranges, 4 red apples, 4 green apples, 3 bananas, 2 pears and 1 mess of grapes. Either Sesame Streets’ The Count was in here, or Cleveland was playing a mean trick on a gullible journalist. JJ Hickson is blasting a Jigga throwback, Hola Hovito, from his white Dre’s, while Antawn Jamison is stretching with gray Dre’s on. Do you see the pattern here? On the stretching table, Andy Varejao is getting his feet massaged. Clearly the massager isn’t getting paid enough to do this.
Mike Brown’s pre-game presser is barely audible, while you can hear Doc’s from down the hall. Once again, like the last time I’m here, Rasheed is running through the hallways.
1st Quarter
First Cavs possession is thrown down to Shaq. Perkins plays him well and holds his ground. Let’s see if Boston learned to not double Shaq if he isn’t going to make his move. He killed them that way in Game 3.
Cavs jump out to a seven point lead just three minutes in and Doc calls his first 20-second timeout. The crowd seems beaten right now. The energy is lacking from the fans.
Jamison just dropped a monstrous facial on Perkins. Yes, all Tar Heels can fly.
Celtics starting to show signs of life six minutes in. A strong defensive stand on one end, leads to a Pierce and-1 on the other. 14-13 C’s with 5:54 left.
KG goes backdoor for the alley-oop and the crowd explodes.
Perkins, Pierce and Sheed all have two fouls. Only Sheed stays on the floor.
Clearly Doc got his team prepared to come out fighting. There are too may veterans on this team for Boston to give up so easily. With that said, it’s Rondo who continues to push the ball up the floor finding open spaces. 24-17 C’s with 2:49 left.
The C’s are doing a great job of getting the ball out of LeBron’s hands, 
something they didn’t do in Game 3. Speaking of getting rid of the ball, Rondo just pegged it off Varejao to save the possession. Ice packet, please.
Sheed picks up his third foul to cap off the quarter. You know, just for good measure.
First quarter comes to a close with the C’s on top 31-22. Rondo dictated the action, putting up a line of 11, 5 and 3 on 5-8 shooting. LeBron and Shaq both got to the stripe five times each. It was a very consistent whistle from the refs, blowing 15 fouls.
2nd Quarter
The epitome of Rondo on the first two C’s possessions: Cleveland steps back on Rondo daring him to shoot the three. He bricks it. Next time down, he pushes the ball hard to the hole getting leveled by Shaq in the process. When he becomes consistent with the jumper, don’t think he can’t do what LeBron does night in and night out.
Shaq does(n’t) get fouled and the “Bull-shit” chant erupts. C’mon guys, on Mother’s Day?
After a brief Cavs run, the Celtics push the lead back to double digits. Ray Allen has come alive, knocking down a couple of jumpers. 41-32 C’s with 6:38 remaining.
There’s a lot of battling down low, lots of elbows being thrown. With about five minutes to go, it’s getting testy out there. Yet, with all the fouls and stoppages of play, Cleveland’s only down five. 47-42 C’s with 3:18 to go.
LeBron has yet to impose his will on this game. He’s driven to the hoop once, but no matter what he does, there’s a foul call on every Cavs possession. It’s incredible. There have been 40 free throws taken already on 29 foul calls. And there’s still 2:58 left in the quarter.
For the half, there were a combined 31 fouls called, 46 free throws taken, no sign of Paul Pierce (just 2-4) and Rondo beasting (18, 8 and 7). Boston shot an efficient 19-36 from the field (.528) while Cleveland struggled to 13-36 (.361). Yet, despite that, Cavs only down nine. C’s up 54-45.
3rd Quarter
Mimicking the 1st Quarter, Jamison jams another one home for the Cavs.
Big three from Anthony Parker to close the gap to four. He’s also been invisible most of this game. Now Ray Allen with back to back buckets. Hopefully the offense for both sides picks up this quarter after a real grind-it-out first half.
Pierce picks up his fourth foul on just a silly call. He’s not really contributing much anyway so it’s not like they’ll miss him this quarter. C’s up 64-60 with 5:35 to go.
I know this quarter is going on, because I’m watching it with my own two eyes, but it feels like nothing is happening. There’s 2:54 left and the Cavs are within one, 66-65. LeBron just swatted Ray Allen’s shot to the third row and that’s been the highlight of this half.
Delonte West (0-5 thus far) hits three free throws and the Cavs take the lead for the first time this half. Rondo is two assists away from a triple-doubl…make that one assist. As I was typing that, Rondo went behind the back to the trailing Tony Allen for the stuff. They’ve showed the highlight about five times now and it looks more impressive each time.
The quarter ends 74-72 C’s. Rondo has his triple-double (21, 11 and 10) but it took him 6-16 to get there. Whoever wants this game more will win it in the 4th.
4th Quarter
Tony Allen with the pick and dupes the trailing LeBron with a dish to Rondo for the bucket.
The Celtic defense is stifling right now. The Cavs aren’t getting anything in the lane and are forced to chuck up long range jumpers. Rondo is super quick to ignite the fast break with his outlet passes. 78-72 C’s with 9:48 left.
Tony Allen again. He just crossed JJ Hickson for the deuce. The lead has no ballooned back to double digits. The Cavs need to find their composure, quickly. They’re falling apart right now. 84-72 C’s with 7:35 remaining in the game.
Tony Allen replaces Paul Pierce with 5:37 left in the fourth, in a five point game. You read that right.
LeBron is being way too passive this quarter. For such a close game, he needs to get to the rim. On an earlier possession he took KG off the dribble for a layup. The next time he had him iso’d, he elected to dish to Varejao for the 15-footer. There’s 2:53 left and he needs to get his at this point. 88-84 C’s with 2:53 remaining.
Again, the swings in this game are ridiculously violent. Cavs cut the lead, Boston pushes it again and around the merry-go-round we go.
Rondo with a putback off a missed shot (his 17th rebound by the way, more than half of Cleveland’s 31 total) and the C’s go up by seven with 1:34 left. LeBron really needs to be more selfish at this juncture of the game.
Rajon Rondo with a great playoff performance tonight. As he took his last free throws, the crowd started chanting “MVP” for the young fella, arguably the best point guard in the L.
The C’s take Game 4, winning 97-87.
Postgame
When asked what his initial thoughts were when he saw his numbers after the game, all Rondo says is, “About time.”
29 points, 18 rebounds and 13 assists on 9-21 shooting, 11-16 from the line in 47 minutes. If the C’s manage to knock off Cleveland in this series, it will be this line, this moment they point to as the game changer. What Rondo did tonight was nothing short of spectacular, worthy of the biggest NBA stage.
Of course, he had help. Both Doc and Mike Brown pointed to the Celtics hustle points throughout the game, from Rasheed’s defense on Shaq to Tony Allen’s hustle layups. The series now swings back to Cleveland for Game 5, where the Cavs have much to look over after getting outhustled and outplayed this afternoon.
And as for Big Boi’s lyrics:
Not to flex but to protect my neck like the Wu-Tang.
Self-preservation is the rule when you do aim.
Or get in something more sinister (Rajon freaking Rondo).
You gotta be the finisher to make it sure the doctors, they can’t replenish him.
Or bring him back to life.
Back to reality.
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