Rajon Rondo to Boston Celtics Fans: We Need You Tonight

Rajon Rondo is looking for a little help from some of the most loyal fans in the NBA.

Tonight, as the Celtics prepare to battle the Chicago Bulls in Game Five of their Eastern Conference series at TD Banknorth Garden, Rondo and his mates will look to put that grueling double-overtime loss in Game Four in Chicago behind them.

When you spend three hours and 33 minutes battling, only to lose and have to hop on a plane and play 48 hours later in playoff intensity, it’s understandable that you would look for a pick-me-up wherever you can find it.

“I think it’s important for us, to get the crowd in early,” Rondo said. “I think it’s very key. I think it’s one of the most important things besides us playing well tonight is for the crowd to be into it.”

The man who has averaged a triple-double in this series—averaging 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists per game—will be called upon to get the Celtics offense into high gear at the start.

“We look at it as a game we have to win,” Rondo said Tuesday morning. “We looked at Game Four the same way. We could have separated the series if we had won Game Four, but we have to move on.”

Rondo has two triple-doubles in this series, in the Game Two win and the Game Four loss. Celtics coach Doc Rivers would welcome another triple-double, but what he’s really looking for is just a steady court presence.

“That would be great,” Rivers said of another triple-double. “His numbers are almost gaudy at times. We don’t expect those numbers, we just expect his solid play. Sometimes, even when he plays and has a great, solid numbers it doesn’t translate into number. But so far this series it has.”