On Thursday night, Los Angeles Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo hit a buzzer-beater against his former team, the Boston Celtics, to break Boston’s five-game winning streak and keep Los Angeles from dropping their third game in a row.
Rondo, who would finish the game with 17 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds in a near triple-double effort, corralled a loose ball that went through the hands of teammate Tyson Chandler following Celtics big man Al Horford’s block of Lakers forward Brandon Ingram at the rim.
The former Celtic, who still considers Boston to be home, has been one of Los Angeles’ key player all season and understandably so. He has one of the highest IQs in the league, on and off the court, and is a heady veteran with a defensive background.
Having won a championship with Boston in 2008, Celtics fans would have mixed feelings about seeing the fiery floor general knock down the game-winner.
Though Boston was treated to another stellar game by second-year forward Jayson Tatum, who scored a team-high 25 points on 9-14 shooting from the field, Celtics All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving would struggle from the field, going just 6-21 from the floor in 36 minutes. Despite a career night from center Daniel Theis (20 points on 9-11 shooting) and a solid 18-point outing from Jaylen Brown, on a night when one wrong bounce made all the difference, their margin of error was just too thin at the end.
Lakers superstar LeBron James would record a triple-double with 28 points (he knocked down five triples along the way), 12 rebounds and 12 assists while adding three steals. Second-year forward Kyle Kuzma added 25 points for Los Angeles while hitting five three-pointers in the game as well.
