There’s no Lakers’ player more controversial or polarizing to the team’s fans and pundits than 34-year old point guard Rajon Rondo and no basketball urban myth more chimerical and illusive than the legend of Playoff Rondo.
Yet that’s exactly what we just witnessed as Playoff Rondo posted 10 points, 9 assists, 5 steals, and 3 rebounds with just 1 turnover to help the Lakers beat the Rockets 117–109 in just his second game in the Bubble Playoffs. Considering Rajon had missed the Lakers’ eight regular season seeding games and five first round playoff games due to thumb and back injuries, watching him come out and rock Playoff Rondo was totally unexpected.
On the other hand, maybe we should have had faith in legend of Playoff Rondo. After all, the last time he had a chance to play in the NBA playoffs was in 2018 when he led the underdog Pelicans to a sweep of the Blazers. Rondo averaged 11.3 points, 13.3 assists, and 7.5 rebounds in 35.4 minutes while shooting 48.7% from the field, 42.9% from deep, and 80.0% from the line and posting an impressive plus/minus of 10.5 and net rating of 13.7.
Playoff Rondo’s performance against the Blazers in 2018 was not just an isolated performance as Rajon’s career playoff stats have always outpaced his regular season stars, confirming he plays best in the heat of the playoffs.
Rondo’s career regular season averages are 10.2 points, 8.3 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.7 steals in 31.0 minutes while his career playoff stats are 13.9 points, 9.3 assists, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.9 steals in 37.4 minutes.
But the legend of Playoff Rondo is more than a statistical aberration. It has to do with the swag and confidence he inspires when he’s on the court and the way he efficiently runs the offense and smoothly distributes the ball. While hypercritical fans and pundits may bemoan his stats and analytics, Rajon has earned the full trust and complete confidence of Lakers’ head coach Frank Vogel and superstar duo LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
The Lakers won last night’s pivotal game against the Rocket largely because Playoff Rondo showed up. His +28 plus/minus and +46.7 net rating not only led the Lakers but he was part of the team’s four best 5-player lineups. While the Rockets are likely to continue disrespecting his gravity behind the 3-point line, there’s little question Playoff Rondo is a huge difference maker on the floor with LeBron James or when the King is resting on the bench.
JaVale McGee’s unfortunate injury and the way the Lakers played when going small with Rondo in the lineup may have opened the door to Vogel finally making a change in the Lakers’ starting lineup for Tuesday’s game. Frank has been reluctant to change his starting lineup but JaVale’s injury and Rajon’s play may have given him the opportunity to make a change that could empower the Laker by starting Playoff Rondo at point guard.
One thing Vogel cannot discount is how Rondo takes pressure off of LeBron James to be both a primary scorer and playmaker for the Lakers. Rondo running the offense unleashes LeBron to be in full-time attack mode.
And that’s exactly what the Lakers need to get past the Houston Rockets.
This article will surely be controversial considering how polarizing Rondo is to Lakerholics. Gerald is already pulling his hair out and going crazy but I think McGee’s injury, Playoff Rondo’s appearance, and how the team played going small in the 4th may have opened the door for a starting lineup change Frank could accept…but maybe not. Maybe Frank comes back and starts Dwight for JaVale. It would fit with what has been a frustrating reluctance to make smart moves. Sad to think an injury to JaVale was the only thing that saved the day. What will Vogel do? Game 3 is critical to series.
I completely missed the announcement that JaVale had been injured in my apoplectic response to how JaVale started the second half, turning the ball over and allowing one of the three wide open threes that fueled a Rockets 9-zip run to start the second half. I mistakenly thought Frank had come to his senses. Anyway, never want to see a player get injured but this could be a blessing in disguise for the Lakers if it triggers Rondo moving into the starting lineup for McGee for the rest of this series.
It was great to see the Lakers take the Rockets best punch in the form of 22 made threes and over 40% shooting from deep and come back and shut them down in the 4th. Only 8 mintes of -9 plus/minus by McGee and a DNP by Howard opened the way for the Lakers to play small for 40 of the 48 minutes in the game. So I’m at least grateful Frank shut down Howard. Now he just needs to do the same with McGee for the rest of this series.
Looking ahead to the NBA Finals, has anybody noticed that the Heat have essentially been playing very much like the Rockets. Only difference is Bam is a little bigger than Tucker but they’ve been raining threes and playing small ball scramble defense. Another reason for Lakers to continue to experiment with more small ball lineups. I would like to see a Rondo, Green, LeBron, AD, and Morris lineup get some run. That could be a great closing lineup.
Good write up LT. I’ll bet JaVale sits a game and Howard gets the starting nod. But I expect the minutes to stay about how they did in game 2.
If Frank were to start Howard, I would lose all respect for his ability to coach the Lakers. That would be the stupidest thing he could do. If he does that, he should be fired.
There’s a reason why McGee is a liability against the Rockets and it applies to Howard too. They clog the middle on offense and can’t guard the perimeter on defense.
It’s one thing to stick with McGee out of loyalty to the player. It’s plain stupidity to stick to the idea you can beat the Rockets by playing big. The math trumps Howard starting. 3>2!
I think you’re missing the point. the point isn’t that the Lakers are “playing big” against the Rockets who are “playing small”. We played to their height for 75-80% of the game the other night. In game one we played a center-less line up for half the game. The Lakers have certainly adapted the rotation to what the Rockets are doing. We have not embraced what the Rockets are doing, there’s a big difference there.
The question is how we’re starting the game. That’s it. So, if Javale can’t go because of the ankle it stands to reason that Frank would stick with a big at center. It’s for a bevvy of reasons that don’t come down to spacing for LeBron but do come down to setting a tone defensively. That’s what got us the #1 seed, it’s what we’ve been winning all season doing and they’re not going to re-invent the team on the fly. It’s next man up at the position and if the center is ;laying well, he’ll play more, if we’re getting beat with a center out there, he’ll play less.
I’m not saying there’s not good reason for the Lakers to play the way they did to win the West but the greater point is the Rockets are a total outlier that plays entirely different than any other team in the league and don’t have any options to be forced to play differently. Starting off games and halves with McGee or Howard is a huge liability at both ends of the court and Vogel should be smart enough to realize that but judging from his recent comments, he doesn’t and that is very disturbing.
It reflects on the coach’s ability to make adjustments on the fly when needed, something that is key to winning in the playoffs when you’re playing the same team in multiple games. That could be a handicap that could cost the Lakers a chance to win a championship. I believe the Lakers have the best talent in the league. Right now, I really question whether we have a coach who can make the adjustments to win a championship.
Regarding Vogel and his lack of adjustments: I agree to a certain point. If you watch both he and LeBron’s post gamer from the other night they both touch on this subject in a small way. They talk about how the Lakers are built to play both ways. I don’t think they mean for the entire game, though. i think that the coaches and the 2 superstars have come to an agreement or an alliance or whatever you want to call it that they’ll play a hybrid of tall and small ball (and they have all season long, but they ramped up the small ball later in the season to save AD the wear). But one of the most consistent things about the Lakers this season has been the composition of the starting five. it’s 100% traditional, even when McGee was out with the ankle injury for two games and they put Dwight in to start. Also that, when healthy, McGee starts. Why that is I don’t know and kind of don’t care. All it informs me of is that starting five is pretty much etched in stone and that the Lakers will trot out a traditional starting line up. The adjustments come after the opening 5-8 minutes, depending on flow and score.
Do I agree with that? pretty much, like I said I’d put KCP back on the bench and start Waiters, Caruso or Rondo (in that order) and give the starting line up a secondary play maker while keeping Rondo in the second unit to spell LeBron. Waiters can make plays but he’s no Rondo. Caruso would add more defense and toughness but frankly I like him off the bench, as well. So in all honesty it’s unlikely we won’t see any changes to the starting 5 unless JVMG is hurt and then, like I said, I expect Howard to fill in for those 15ish minutes.
Choo! Choo! All aboard the Playoff Rondo Train (with LakerTom as conductor) Choo! Choo!
lol, I have my doubts but there’s no denying both the team and the coaches want Rondo out there. From my perspective he’s good for a solid showing every 3-4 games. His defense is based off of aggressive gambles thus he has a propensity to get blown by or left behind on a play as he recovers. When he’s on he does elevate the entire team. We’ll see tonight which version of Rondo we get tonight!
It’s ironic how you have so much trust in Vogel regarding McGee and Howard and so little regarding Rondo. Of course, I’m in the opposite situation, distrusting him on the bigs but trusting him on Rondo although not consistently.
The difference is the recent stats actually support the idea that Playoff Rondo is a real thing whereas Regular Season Rondo is a disappointment. The stats also clearly show McGee and Howard are liabilities against the Rockets.
The roles of the players are completely different. It’s not really even a comparison one can make. McGee and Howard are there to take some pressure off AD. Rondo’s job is to apply ball pressure and orchestrate the offense. I have a lot of admiration for Rondo but I’m not sure that, at his age and given the mileage and injuries he’s sustained over his career, that he has enough left in the tank to give us what we saw the other night. If you look at his game to game stats in the playoffs he’s up and down and the team often goes the way he does. We can absorb subpar nights from Howard and/or McGee a lot easier than we can Rondo given their respective roles.
We both advocated to see more Waiters and his ball handling in the line up, hasn’t happened in the playoffs. It’s not likely to happen as it appears that Vogel is going with the guys that got him here. I can admire that, the game we lost the team played terribly and LeBron had an off night. Tonight will be a good barometer for how the rest of the series will go. Feels like if McGee hasn’t been ruled out yet he’ll be in the line up anyhow.
I was really worried about him and Caruso, but they outperformed my expectations! Credit where credit is do. Just DO IT again!
This whole concept of playoff Rondo pisses me off because what it means is that he does not compete or try in non playoff situations. He was basically a liability on the floor during this season and last.
Sup Worthy,
How ya feel is valid.
He’s not the only one, most of social media, Basketball media, NBA head office, advertising do a great job themselves of de-emphasizing the importance of the Regular Season.
They’ve essentially turned the NBA into College Football.
The have and the have-nots.
I don’t like it, it’s oversimplification, it doesn’t take into account nuance like player development, improvement, team chemistry.
Why?
2 reasons come to mind
1. Financial
2. The Media as the 4th estate has become fat, tired and lazy.
No room for nuance. Everything is binary: good or bad, productive/lazy. Which leaves pretty much no room for thoughtful discussion.
Shows like PTI/First Take/Skip and Shannon are kettle corn for the hardcore fan. It doesn’t offer anything in the way of critical thinking at all.
Most of the time it’s got viral hits or stoking up furor over something or for these personalities to cut promos for their brand.
I can tell w/in 5 mins of a basketball convo who knows their stuff and who doesn’t.
Hey, Brad, I can understand why you might feel that way but I think what we’re seeing is an athlete in Rajon who has a preternatural mental ability to focus in the playoffs that enables him to elevate his game miles above how he normally plays and avoid the negative tendencies that deprecate his performances during the regular season.
The regular 82-game season is a grind for even the most highly motivated superstars. In many ways, the Bubble is the perfect venue for players like LeBron and Rondo which is why we’re seeing almost supernatural performances from them right now. Not only did they have almost five months off to recuperate but what amounted to just an eight game regular season.
What we’re seeing is the elevation of the clutch gene in players in the bubble. So I look to performances like Playoff LeBron’s blockfest and Playoff Rondo’s reemergence as great accomplishments rather than players dogging it during the regular season. These are superhuman feats that it would be impossible to maintain during an extended regular season so just cherish and enjoy them now.