Washburn On Toucher & Rich: Rondo 'Knows He Owes His Teammates'
The Celtics were without Rajon Rondo Tuesday night after he was suspended for one game for bumping an official in Game One, but the Green were still able to pull out a 87-80 win over the Hawks.
The C's battled back from an 11-point deficit in the second.
Gary Washburn joined Toucher & Rich to discuss the big win by the Celtics, Mickael Pietrus and player feelings about Rondo's suspension.
Paul Pierce scored 36 points and racked up 14 rebounds in the win. After the game Doc Rivers said, "The only way we were going to win a game like this without Ray and Rondo was if Paul had a game like this."
Was Washburn surprised that Pierce still has games in him like this at his age and at this point in a condensed season?
"You know not really, I think he was definitely looking to score. Obviously he scored four seconds into the game after a real dismal performance in Game One, so this doesn't really surprise me."
Then there's a guy like Mickael Pietrus who hasn't scored a point in two games. His Game Two performance wasn't anything special until he stepped it up defensively at the end to shutdown Joe Johnson. Is he still bothered by injury?
"This is a guy who was a great, coming off the bench scoring hitting threes and now he just can't hit a shot."
"I do think the knee is not completely right, but I do think he is healthy enough to play."
Hawks forward Josh Smith left the game with a few minutes left, Washburn told the guys he's hearing it's a strained knee tendon.
"I don't know how much you can go with a strained tendon in that knee. You know in the usual season that might be three or four days off, but in this playoffs that would be two games."
There are not many players in the NBA who play with more emotion than Rajon Rondo, so can we expect a huge Game Three from him after his Game Two suspension?
"I think he knows he owes his teammates."
The Celtics and Hawks play Game Three of their series on Friday night in Boston starting at 7:30 pm.
