Rajon Rondo at Full Health Makes Boston Celtics Legitimate Playoff Contender

During the 2012-13 season, Rajon Rondo played just 38 games. The Boston Celtics finished 41-40. Last year, he played 30. The C's finished 25-57.

There are obviously other circumstances at play, but the correlation between Rondo's minutes and Celtic wins is not a fluke.

That was evident during Wednesday's season opener. Rondo, questionable to play after missing the entire preseason with a hand injury, tallied 13 points, 12 assists, seven rebounds, one steal and one block in a 121-105 shellacking of the Brooklyn Nets.

Rondo told reporters he was at 83 percent before the game, but wouldn't you know it, he didn't seem to be totally serious with those comments. Former teammate Kevin Garnett, via ESPN's Jeff Goodman, put it simply:

Rondo was in complete control all night. He got into the heart of the defense whenever he wanted, orchestrating a dangerously efficient offense. Through three quarters, before the dogs were essentially called off, the Celtics scored 101 points on a preposterous 1.35 points per possession.

The final product was the best offensive opener in 24 years, although it likely could have been even better if they weren't up by 29 after 36 minutes:

It tends to get forgotten because he's missed so much time over the last two years, but Rondo is a special floor general who controls the game like few others in the NBA. His ability to collapse a defense and find the open man is especially tantalizing with this roster: Jeff Green, Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk make up arguably the best shooting frontcout in the Association.

Interestingly enough, Rondo, who missed all four of his free throws, is probably the worst shooter in the starting lineup. That really doesn't mean anything, though, because this offense under X's and O's genius Brad Stevens is clearly going to be very successful with its current pieces.

Defensively, we'll once again defer to KG, via The Boston Globe's Gary Washburn:

"

Garnett said he's also looking forward to watching trio of Smart, Rondo and Bradley defensively #celtics #nets

— gary washburn (@GwashburnGlobe) October 30, 2014"

Rondo's long arms have always helped him create a slew of steals. Avery Bradley is probably one of the most underrated on-ball defenders in the league. Marcus Smart is still raw, but his physicality and intelligence earned him comparisons to Tony Allen.

Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix praised Boston's season-opener performance on both ends of the court:

Boston has the coach in Stevens. It has young talent Bradley, Sullinger and Olynyk who look ready to take a crucial step forward. It has solid bench contributors in Smart, Evan Turner and Brandon Bass.

And as long as Rondo is healthy, it has the leader to fit all those pieces together.