Why Rajon Rondo Can't Win an NBA Title with Current Boston Celtics Squad

Break up the Boston Celtics!

No, seriously, it might actually be time to break up the Boston Celtics. So long as Rajon Rondo sticks around as the first building block.

Rondo did everything humanly possible (and more) to drag the decaying carcasses of the Celtics to victory in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals versus the Miami Heat.

Or tried to, anyway.

He scored a career-high 44 points on just 24 shots, knocking down jumpers like he was Ray Allen (h/t Couper Moorhead):

"

Rajon Rondo's shot chart in Game 2: yfrog.com/gz7u4hwj Perfect outside the paint everywhere but the short right corner.

— Couper Moorhead (@CoupNBA) May 30, 2012"

To those, he added eight rebounds and 10 assists to come within sniffing distance of his fourth triple-double of these NBA playoffs. It was the first time a member of the Boston Celtics had ever poured in 40 points and dropped 10 dimes.

And by ever, I mean not Larry Bird, not Bob Cousy, not John Havlicek and certainly not Antoine Walker.

Oh, and Rondo's 40-8-10 was only the sixth 40-8-10 in NBA playoff history. Indeed, Rondo ran the "sho" on South Beach (h/t Got 'Em Coach):

"

Miami:Where #Rondo Runs the Sho twitpic.com/9r5js3

— Got 'Em Coach (@GotEm_Coach) May 30, 2012"

But it still wasn't enough to put the C's over the top.

Not with Dwyane Wade and LeBron James combining for 57 points and Mario Chalmers chipping in 22 of his own for the Heat. Not with Udonis Haslem helping out with a double-double of his own off the bench.

And certainly not with Kevin Garnett missing 12 of his 18 shots and Paul Pierce fouling out in the fourth quarter.

Rondo played an integral part in pushing Boston out to a 15-point lead in the first half but couldn't keep the bus running all by his lonesome when his aging teammates ran out of gas. He played all 53 minutes and scored all 12 of Boston's points in overtime.

But it still wasn't enough.

So where do the C's go from here, other than back to Beantown for Game 3?

Granted, this series is still far from over. The C's looked drained in Game 1, fresh off of a grueling seven-game series against the Philadelphia 76ers, and may well show up in similar condition on Friday after giving their all in Game 2. But they'll come back with another valiant effort in a do-or-die Game 3, if only because they've won as a group before and, as such, won't go down without a fight.

Fisticuffs or otherwise.

Chances are, they'll have to do it without Rondo putting up 44, eight and 10 again (not that he won't be his spectacular self anyway).

But what happens if (or when) that isn't enough? What happens if (or when) LeBron and Wade and their fresh-legged minions run away and hide from Boston's bag of bones?

Celtics GM Danny Ainge probably has an answer, though it doesn't likely (and shouldn't) involve trading Rondo this time around. No trades for Chris Paul or Pau Gasol or anyone, really. Not when your 26-year-old, otherworldly All-Star is making a relatively modest $12 million next season and $13 million the season after that.

But KG's coming off the books, all 36 years of him. So too are soon-to-be-37-year-old Ray Allen's shoulders, knees and toes.

(Knees and toes.)

Compared to those two, Pierce (35 in October) is a young pup with two years left on his deal to prove it, though you'd never know it by the way his slow, deliberate style has seeped into his defense.

And let's not get started on that bench of theirs, or we'll be here all night.

The point is (and, believe it or not, there is one), these C's couldn't hold a 15-point lead against a Heat team playing without LeBron and Wade in the fourth quarter—when they combined to hit as many field goals as I did—and without Chris Bosh at all.

Against a Heat team that played poorly for three quarters and won't be going anywhere anytime soon.

When the curtain falls on this postseason, Pat Riley might ship Bosh off for spare parts and reinforcements, though he wouldn't dare to break up Batman and Also Batman.

If Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge didn't think Rajon Rondo was a franchise-caliber superstar before his stunning Game 2 EC finals performance against Miami, he certainly does now.

As for Danny Ainge? He may have no other choice. If his Celtics can't beat these Heat now, with Rondo playing out of his gourd, how are they supposed to next year or the year after that, when The Big Ticket and The Truth and Jesus Shuttlesworth are all that much closer to retirement, all skating by on borrowed time?

When Rondo's shoulders fall off after hauling three zombified Hall of Famers as far as any point guard would, could or should.

It ain't 2008 anymore, or even 2010. 

Break up the Celtics? If they're ever to win another title with Rondo up top, is there any other option?

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