The Lakers are halfway there.
Two more victories, and the Los Angeles club will celebrate its 17th coronation.
Obviously, LeBron James and Anthony Davis are at the top of the pyramid, the major players of this team.
They also display statistics worthy of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal in the first two games of the NBA Finals, against Miami (2-0).
But Franck Vogel has other assets to aim for the Larry O'Brien trophy at the expense of the Heat.
And in particular Rajon Rondo.
"Do," as the Lakers call it.
“Playoff Rondo”, as everyone calls it.
NBA champion in 2008 with… Boston, and unhappy finalist against Kobe and company two years later, the 34-year-old leader is indeed never as strong as during the play-offs.
The proof again this year, in the bubble.
“You don't often have the opportunity to live these moments, tries to explain LeBron.
I think he's just cherishing the moment, but he's also playing the game he likes to play, in a cerebral, determined way, the one that wins titles, like he's been doing for a while. ”
Passing, defense, basketball IQ, leadership… And a strong character
By playing alongside Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and company and battling for the coronation from his early years in the NBA, Rondo learned at a good school.
A wealth of knowledge that it has grown over the years.
As far as the qualities are concerned, he has always had them.
Passing, defense, basketball IQ, leadership… And a strong character.
Sometimes too much.
Not in Los Angeles.
We do not discover the man.
But its passage in play-offs mode always surprises.
Rondo is 10.2 points, 4.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.7 interceptions in the regular season (873 games), with Boston, Dallas, Sacramento, Chicago, New Orleans and therefore the Lakers, since 2018. In the play-offs?
13.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, 10.3 “assists” and 1.9 interceptions (117).
In 2019-20, Rondo was at 7.1 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists in the regular season (48 games), for 9.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 7.2 assists in the play-offs (12 games).
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In addition, the veteran point guard has added skill to his arsenal.
In particular at three points.
It was however his Achilles tendon for a long time… He returned three of his four attempts beyond the arc of a circle on Friday, during Game 2 of the Finals (victory 124-114), and turned to 44.7 % far in these play-offs.
Or 17/38.
17 award-winning shots, that's as much as in his five previous post-season campaigns (17/60)!
Facing the Miami area, it's precious.
In short, he does a crazy good off the bench, assuming with or without LeBron James the functions of launching pad for the Lakers.
And a mentor, too.
“Personally, I kept reminding the guys to stay focused, to keep their cool, to take care of the ball and give it to LeBron or 'AD',” he said of the end of Game 2. “ This is one of our options against the area, said Franck Vogel, coach of the Lakers.
We want to put creators in the middle.
If we can get the ball there and get the defenders in, it opens up the perimeter.
He opens the way to the circle.
Obviously, you want players who can make the decisions.
Bron, "AD", Rondo, all these guys in this place are benefiting from our attack. "
Nash and Bird in the retro, Parker in the viewfinder
Recall that Rondo finished with 16 points and 10 assists during this meeting.
The opportunity for him to overtake Steve Nash and Larry Bird in the ranking of the best assisters in the history of the play-offs, sorry.
He is now sixth.
“Coming from where I'm from, I didn't grow up with basket dreams,” he says.
All the names I passed during the play-offs, from Isiah (Thomas) to Michael (Jordan), to Kobe (Bryant), Steve and Larry ... I couldn't even dream of this opportunity.
I am very lucky and blessed to continue playing this game for so long.
I played with a lot of great teammates who obviously took shots for me.
It's a team award.
It's not really an individual honor.
It's an individual stat, but ultimately you have to do it with your teammates.
That's what makes me play this game. ”
Next target?
Tony Parker (1067 against 1143).
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Although, its objective is obviously the title.
Especially since TP's place in the Top 5 is secure for a while.
“I would love to be a coach or general manager one day.
I love the game and everything it has given me.
But at the moment, I still like to compete and try to do whatever it takes to win titles, he insists.
I love to share my experience with young people because that's what was given to me.
It is important to move forward.
I don't want to look back and say to myself, "I wish I could ...", that's why I'm giving everything I have now.
I want to have a taste of another championship at least once more.
Maybe that's what people see in the play-offs.
I don't think I'm any different from the regular season and I don't know what the stats are, but I know I want to win. ”
We saw that.
Next opportunity to win, tonight (1h30), during Game 3 of the Finals.
Miami still plucked?
Bam Adebayo and Goran Dragic back with Miami?
Probably not.
In any case not for Game 3 of the NBA Finals, next night (1:30), in the bubble.
Respectively affected in the shoulder and in the foot, the two players are announced “doubtful” by the Florida club.
According to various sources, there is a little more hope regarding Adebayo than Dragic.
Moreover, the latter is undoubtedly lost for the rest of the series against the Lakers… Without them, Jimmy Butler (25 pts, 13 pds) and company did well last Friday, during the second round, but Anthony Davis (32 pts, 14 rbs), LeBron James (33 pts) and the rest of their partners have logically won their case (124-114), after having largely dominated the first match (116-98).
Remember that no team has come back up after being led 0-3.
Not just in the final, but in the history of the play-offs.
Imperative victory, therefore.
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