Rondo won this game.....

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

I'm sorry, I just don't see how people can argue against DWest and BBD being the biggest reason we won with Ray coming in a strong 3rd. DWest came in an started to get the offense going and he was good on D... BBD was hitting shots out of his mind (when they went up I was like "NOOOOO" lol)... Ray hit clutch shots. Again, if you look at the game again, we were down with RR in the game, when he went down and DWest came in we battled back and took the lead... there was a NEW energy with Baby and him in. Even when BBD first came in with RR playing we were getting beat. When RR came back in at the end we lost the lead (go watch the game again) at first... we held on for the win but you could clearly see that RR wasn't the RR we know... he slowed the ball down too much, luckily it didn't cost us the W. This was a team victory but that doesn't mean that some players weren't more crucial than others.

Ok, I downloaded & rewatched the entire game twice after reading these posts and I can make the following conclusion:

The Celtics started playing their defense starting the second half. Beginning of the 3rd quarter, they started to cut down from 15 to 8 and this is when Ray started hitting 3s WITH Rondo in the game.

[Edited.]
WE as a TEAM started playing better starting the 3rd quarter. Ray wasn't able to get open in the first half but did in the 2nd half. That has a lot to do with the team. BALL MOVEMENT, MEN MOVEMENT. RONDO TOO. THE WHOLE TEAM started playing better.

BBD hit some TOUGH TOUGH fadeaway jumpers. HAD HE MISSED the shots and we ended up losing the game, you guys would be saying "why in the world is BBD taking those shots?". Well since he was able to hit 'those' shots (the shots you DO NOT want him to take), he was able to make the impact he made (PLAYER OF THE GAME, THE GAME CHANGER or whatever the hell you guys want to label him as).

SAME with THE ONES Rondo made. He doesn't usually make those js 3-4  in a row. That's what the Twolves broadcasters kept saying "We will start guarding him once he makes 4-5 in a row." Well Rondo usually can't make those with 3-4sec left in the shotclock. The only reason he takes those is 'cause he can't find anybody open  or gets the ball back with the shotclock down.

WHEN RONDO went OUT, the Celtics were ALREADY playing better bball. They cut the lead down by playing their tight defense. I believe they cut the lead down as close as 7 before and when Delonte came in, it went back up to 9. We were able to come back all the way to take the lead afterward.

[Edited.]

So, if you watched the game you know that AFTER DWest came in we took the deficit and turned it into a lead for us and THEN when RR came in we LOST that lead... luckily people (PP) hit key shots and we got it back and held on! Since I can't remember... when did RR hit those shots? Also, when are you going to show me ANYTHING that tells me RR won the game for us? BTW: You say the lead went back up to 9 when DWest came in? Up form 7, lol... so you are talking about ONE bucket?? You should mention where our LEAD was when he went out! You are up there talking about what COULD have happened if RR stayed in the game (b/c we started playing better... still down 7 or so as you say) I'm talking about what actually happened! Say what you want (to me the team won the game), RR was a small part of that victory... he definitly was no MVP!

[dasani]

for those saying Rondo hounded CP3 into 0-9 shooting, that's not true.

0-9 for CP3? he is one of the most efficient PGs out there. it was both Delonte and RR. he jacked up some shots he couldn't make.

[LilRip]

for those saying Rondo hounded CP3 into 0-9 shooting, that's not true.

0-9 for CP3? he is one of the most efficient PGs out there. it was both Delonte and RR. he jacked up some shots he couldn't make.

what about 1-9 for Pierce? he is one of the most efficient SFs out there. Ariza wasn't locking him up. he was open and missing. CP3 wasn't locked up by Rondo. he was missing. this isn't some chucker like Brandon Jennings we're talking about. players have bad shooting games, and some shooting games are really bad.

meanwhile, David West was hitting a few improbable shots that shouldn't have been going in, and so was BBD, and they end up having great shooting nights.

[BballTim]

I'm sorry, I just don't see how people can argue against DWest and BBD being the biggest reason we won with Ray coming in a strong 3rd. DWest came in an started to get the offense going and he was good on D... BBD was hitting shots out of his mind (when they went up I was like "NOOOOO" lol)... Ray hit clutch shots. Again, if you look at the game again, we were down with RR in the game, when he went down and DWest came in we battled back and took the lead... there was a NEW energy with Baby and him in. Even when BBD first came in with RR playing we were getting beat. When RR came back in at the end we lost the lead (go watch the game again) at first... we held on for the win but you could clearly see that RR wasn't the RR we know... he slowed the ball down too much, luckily it didn't cost us the W. This was a team victory but that doesn't mean that some players weren't more crucial than others.

Ok, I downloaded & rewatched the entire game twice after reading these posts and I can make the following conclusion:

The Celtics started playing their defense starting the second half. Beginning of the 3rd quarter, they started to cut down from 15 to 8 and this is when Ray started hitting 3s WITH Rondo in the game.

[Edited.]
WE as a TEAM started playing better starting the 3rd quarter. Ray wasn't able to get open in the first half but did in the 2nd half. That has a lot to do with the team. BALL MOVEMENT, MEN MOVEMENT. RONDO TOO. THE WHOLE TEAM started playing better.

BBD hit some TOUGH TOUGH fadeaway jumpers. HAD HE MISSED the shots and we ended up losing the game, you guys would be saying "why in the world is BBD taking those shots?". Well since he was able to hit 'those' shots (the shots you DO NOT want him to take), he was able to make the impact he made (PLAYER OF THE GAME, THE GAME CHANGER or whatever the hell you guys want to label him as).

SAME with THE ONES Rondo made. He doesn't usually make those js 3-4  in a row. That's what the Twolves broadcasters kept saying "We will start guarding him once he makes 4-5 in a row." Well Rondo usually can't make those with 3-4sec left in the shotclock. The only reason he takes those is 'cause he can't find anybody open  or gets the ball back with the shotclock down.

WHEN RONDO went OUT, the Celtics were ALREADY playing better bball. They cut the lead down by playing their tight defense. I believe they cut the lead down as close as 7 before and when Delonte came in, it went back up to 9. We were able to come back all the way to take the lead afterward.

[Edited.]

So, if you watched the game you know that AFTER DWest came in we took the deficit and turned it into a lead for us and THEN when RR came in we LOST that lead... luckily people (PP) hit key shots and we got it back and held on!

  We were already on an 8-1 run when Delonte came into the game, and we never lost the lead in the 4th after Rondo came back in.