You would think the Celtics locker room would have been a happy place yesterday after snapping a six-game losing streak by edging out the Miami Heat by two points to win a double overtime thriller yesterday. Though, you would be wrong. The mood in the locker room was somber as the players gave post-game interviews. It was at this time that the Boston team learned that star point guard Rajon Rondo was lost for the rest of the season with a torn ACL that requires surgery.
As if there weren’t enough problems for the Celtics in terms of reaching the playoffs already. The Celtics are desperately trying to hang on to the eighth seed in a competitive Eastern Conference as they are just two and a half games ahead of the surging Philadelphia 76ers. And now, without their on-court leader and quarterback, Rondo, the remaining Celtics will need to step up to find a way to get wins and make every game count.
Head Coach Doc Rivers spoke to reporters today and said, “The Rondo news is pretty tough. I knew before the game, I just didn’t think it was any time to tell the team”.
Paul Pierce, who heard the news during a post-game interview, claimed, “The news brought a dark cloud in the room”.
While the loss is tragic for the Celtics, anybody can feel for Rajon Rondo who was arguably in the midst of the best season of his career when this injury cut that all short. He was set to represent the Celtics on the Eastern Conference All Star team for the first time, but is obviously out for that game. Rondo was well deserving of the honor and has really emerged as one of the best point guards in the NBA, wracking up the assists and running the Celtic offence in a way that will be nearly impossible for Boston to replace.
Rivers says, ‘You can write the obituary on this season, but I’m not’.
It’s true that the Celtics are a veteran team who have faced adversity before, but the questions linger on how they will replace a man of Rondo’s talents at both ends of the court. Who will step up and take Rondo’s place? I just don’t see how they are going to make up for the loss of their all-star and the player who has been the team’s MVP this season. I think it is too much to overcome and my prediction is that the Celtics will miss the playoffs.
And that’s the last word.
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