Once again, Rajon Rondo will be the underdog in his matchup against the Lakers’ Derek Fisher, a three-time NBA champion — at least on the outside. “That’s what he wants; he loves to be that guy that gets doubted,” Paul Pierce said. “A lot of people didn’t think you could get [to the Finals] with a second-year guard, so he’s answered a lot of questions this year. He’s come a long way. He’s a guy that’s going to help us to a championship.”
NBA. As Celtics coach Doc Rivers put it, Rajon Rondo has the perfect poker face.
There is no need for Rondo to wear a pair of zany glasses, dance around with his iPod or attempt to fool his competition with a bluff to hide a bad hand. That’s because the second-year point guard has all the talent and confidence to play on the world’s biggest stage when the NBA Finals begin tomorrow night at the Garden.
Rondo has gone mano-a-mano with veteran point guards Mike Bibby and Chauncey Billups already during the Celtics’ playoff run, and he’s outplayed them both more often than not. The same can be said for Steve Nash, Jason Kidd and a slew of others during the regular season.
“Rajon is the best point [guard] I’ve ever played with at an NBA level,” Paul Pierce said yesterday.
Pierce spoke slowly and deliberately when he anointed Rondo atop that perch. But what about Kenny Anderson? Gary Payton?
One more time, a little slower and with a bit more accent on the word “best,” Pierce repeated his proclamation.
Most of Rondo’s success is bred through his confidence. Asked countless times throughout the season if he was anxious about a certain matchup or yesterday if he had to shake the butterflies before the Finals, Rondo answered with the calmness of an army sniper.
Nothing bothers him, and that is what his teammates love. While Rondo was in full uniform taking pictures with the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy in a back room at the Celtics’ practice facility in Waltham, Pierce leaned against a door beside the court running circles through his memory.
But there wasn’t anything Pierce could recall that has bothered his point guard, who is 22 going on 35, even though he looks 15.
“Shoot, I don’t know,” Pierce said before pausing to keep jogging his brain. “It’s going to be tough. I don’t know. … If it did, you wouldn’t be able to tell. He sure does a good job of hiding it.”
“Rondo, he’s cool,” echo-ed Sam Cassell, who has lost a lot of his backup minutes in the playoffs because Rivers wants Rondo on the court more often. “He does his job, and he does his job well.”
