NBA Playoff Predictions: Why Rajon Rondo Will Take Boston Celtics to NBA Finals

Playing for the Boston Celtics through adversity, and fueled by the trade turmoil surrounding his name, Rajon Rondo has silenced many of his harshest critics throughout this season.

At the young age of 26, Rondo is the Celtics floor general, operating an offense that has seen better days. With Ray Allen, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett on the wrong side of 30, Rondo has found ways to rejuvenate this team and give Boston fans a reason to be excited.

In 42 games played, Rondo has produced 12.4 PPG, 11.0 APG and 4.9 RPG. Also on his resume in 2012 are five triple-doubles—no other NBA player has more than one. Four of his triple-doubles have come in the spotlight, on national television.

To give you a better understanding of how remarkable Rondo recording five triple-doubles this season actually is, I will tell you that Dwyane Wade has four throughout his entire career. Isiah Thomas had five—being matched by Rondo in just one season. 

In fact, Rondo has thrived in the national spotlight with 14 of 18 career triple-doubles coming on the national stage. That statistic says a lot for the player that many critics believed to be too immature to thrive in the spotlight.

With most of the Celtics usually either injured or regressing due to age at this point in the season, Rondo has brought his teammates to life by feeding them the ball in near perfect fashion.

In 10 games during March, Rondo has dished 141 assists—second to only Steve Nash in any 10-game span. Also in the month of March, Rondo broke the franchise assists record held by Bob Cousy for 56 years—in five fewer games than Cousy.

In the latest pivotal contest, Rondo led the Celtics past LeBron James and the Miami Heat—quite possibly a playoff matchup.

Rondo recorded his 18th triple-double, amassing 16 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds.

As reported by Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com, coach Doc Rivers asked Rondo to be more of a scorer before the game against the Heat:

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'One of the things going into the game today,' Rivers said, 'we told Rondo that we needed him to be a scorer. Not necessarily a playmaker, a scorer. And I thought he set the tone at the beginning of the game by doing that, and I thought that loosened it up for everybody else to get into the game.'

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Not only did Rondo set the tone in scoring for the game, but he continued to produce assists at a high level, reaching double digits in the category for the 13th game in a row.

The Boston Celtics' path to another championship will no longer be the responsibility of Garnett, Pierce or Allen—it will now be paved by Rajon Rondo's electrifying play.

Fortunately, Rondo has all the confidence he needs in himself to lead a team of veterans. Via WEEI.com:

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'I think when we have at least four or five guys healthy, we follow the game plan,' Rondo said after his 16-point, 14-assist and 11-rebound performance in Boston’s 91-72 spanking of Miami Sunday at the Garden. 'But when I’m healthy, I think we can probably beat anybody.'

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Fittingly enough, six of the 18 triple-doubles for Rondo have come during the postseason, and I see no reason Rondo will not add to that.

Living in the shadows of point players like Chris Paul, Derrick Rose and Deron Williams can be quite taxing on a young player, but Rondo has shown the country that he can light up a scoreboard with the best of them.

Unlike the pure scoring point guards, Rondo relies heavily on his ability to attack the rim rather than his jumper. Although Rivers would like to see Rondo try to find his shot, his fierce driving may prove to be too vital in the playoffs, forcing teams to play back or risk falling into foul trouble.

Despite the surreal ability to produce triple-doubles, make veteran players around him better and attack the rim, Rondo still needs to find his shot—both on the floor and at the free-throw line—in order to give the Celtics a legitimate chance at a championship run.

Rondo has been known to show flashes of hitting medium-range jumpers consistently, which in turn causes more chaos for an opposing coach than one could ever imagine.

If Rondo can manage to find his stride from the floor at times in the postseason, it will be hard for any team in the NBA to defeat Boston—as if it wasn't already difficult.

Once the center of trade conversations, Rondo has transformed from an isolated, young player with much to learn to an electrifying, stat sheet-filling, mature point guard ready to lead the Boston Celtics to another shot at glory.