Rajon Rondo's Triple-Double Helps Boston Celtics to Overtime Win over Atlanta

Rajon Rondo's triple-double helped the Boston Celtics outlast the Atlanta Hawks 90-84 in overtime on Friday night in Boston. The Celtics have a 2-1 series lead and kept their home-court advantage.

Atlanta played as well as they could without leading scorer and rebounder Josh Smith. Smith, out with a knee sprain, joined fellow frontcourt starters Al Horford and Zaza Pachulia on the bench, unable to play because of injuries.

The only chance the Hawks had was for Joe Johnson to be aggressive on offense, have Jeff Teague push the pace and to get strong, big minutes from their bench. That did occur as Johnson scored 29 points on 11-for-28 shooting, Teague was quick and solid (23 points, six assists) and the Hawks received big minutes from Tracy McGrady and Erick Dampier.

McGrady played a season-high 41 minutes scoring 12 points and grabbing nine rebounds. He was especially effective in the second quarter with 10 points and six rebounds.

McGrady's effectiveness the rest of the game was limited as he sprained his ankle late in the first half after coming down on Rondo's ankle after missing a jumper.  Dampier played a season-high 22 minutes fairly effectively (six points, six rebounds) although he did appear noticeably tired at times.

The Celtics were helped by the return of Ray Allen, who was out for almost a month with a sore ankle. Allen logged 37 minutes and scored 13 points.

Boston won on a night when Paul Pierce could not get his outside shot to fall. Pierce shot only 3-for-12, but got to the line 14 times and made them all en route to 21 points. But Boston couldn't have won this game without Rondo. Rondo shot poorly (7-for-22), but was all over the court with 17 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists.

The teams battled to a fairly even first half with neither team shooting well. Boston lead 40-38 at the break. The rest of the half featured Boston pulling out to leads and the Hawks battling back.

Atlanta went on a seven point run to turn a 50-44 deficit into a 51-50 lead with 3:50 left in the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Celtics looked in command with a 75-64 lead.

Then Atlanta came back again. Joe Johnson made a three-pointer to culminate a 15-4 run to tie the game at 80 with 1:23 remaining.

Both teams had good looks to win in regulation with Pierce missing a 20-footer at the buzzer after Willie Green missed a similar shot for the Hawks. The big play in overtime was Kevin Garnett's (20 points,13 rebounds) dunk off a Rondo miss to give Boston an 88-84 lead with 27 seconds left.

The series continues on Sunday in Boston as the Celtics try to take a commanding 3-1 series lead. Boston has been very effective at home this season with a 25-9 record, Atlanta's hopes will rest on Josh Smith's ability to play.