Boston Celtics Breakdown: Championship Caliber

It’s been a thrill going around the league and scouting all of the franchises in the NBA—from the bottom-feeders to the upstarts, the underachievers to the powerhouses, and each and every flavor of basketball in between.

After writing about 29 teams, I thought I’d save the best for last.

With the best record in basketball, it only took the Boston Celtics a little over a quarter to thoroughly annihilate the dysfunctional Bulls in a 116-93 bloodbath far uglier than the final score indicated.

Obviously, the Bulls aren’t on Boston’s level so Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen were bound to impress. The trio combined to shoot 15-32 from the floor, 16-17 at the line, with 49 points, 16 rebounds, and eight assists.

However, the game did provide a perfect backdrop to showcase the rest of the squad: the reasons why the Celtics are championship material.

Rajon Rondo

Rondo’s responsibilities included bringing the ball up, not making mistakes, placing his passes in positions where his teammates could score, and hitting whatever open shot he was presented with.

For the game, his numbers were certainly impressive (5-9 FG, 6-8 FT, 3 REB, 4 AST, 1 STL, 2 TO, 16 PTS), with three of his assists and zero turnovers coming in the first half.

Rondo rarely looked for his offense in the first half, because he didn’t need to. In fact, he only took a single shot attempt in the half. But when the Bulls left him alone for a 20-footer, the youngster calmly knocked it down.

Of the rest of his field goals, Rondo had two dunks in transition, scored another lay-up when defense failed to pick him up on a one-on-four break, and knocked down a tough runner late in the fourth.

Of his four misses, all came in the second half when the game was out of reach. Two were on jumpers leaving him only 1-3 from the outside, and two came on lay-ups (one blocked by Ben Gordon) leaving Rondo only 1-3 on contested shots in the paint.

Still, the fact that Rondo was willing to attack the hoop (he earned eight free throws and wasn’t shy about initiating contact) showed he’s fearless and that he won't back away from pressure situations.

On the other side of the court, Rondo locked Ben Gordon up on any isolation.

Twice Gordon attempted to break Rondo down and twice Rondo poked the dribble away and forced Gordon to go pick the ball back up. While neither play resulted in a turnover, Rondo threw off Gordon’s rhythm and disrupted his plan of attack.

Rondo also reached in and used his lightning quick hands to reach in on an Andres Nocioni drive and rip him of the ball.

Rondo is good enough defensively to lock up all but the strongest or quickest guards in the league.

Kendrick Perkins

K-Perk (4-7 FG, 6-6 FT, 11 REB, 3 BLK, 14 PTS) was an absolute beast right from the opening tip, letting the Bulls know that the backboards were off limits for the evening.

The majority of Perkins’ rebounds came in heavy traffic, and his defense under the basket intimidated all Bulls who ventured into the paint.

Perkins set man-sized screens, was astute finding holes in the defense whenever his teammates penetrated, and his own rumblings to the basket where akin to a rhinoceros attacking an unwary enemy.

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