TORONTO - Rajon Rondo [stats]’s triple-double didn’t catch him by surprise. Friends with stat sheets let him know at the midpoint of yesterday’s 114-107 triumph over the Raptors that, with nine points, six rebounds and nine assists, he was close.
“They told me,” Rondo said. “At halftime, T-Lue (assistant coach Tyronn Lue) threatened me, so I had to go out there and get it done.”
The last number to fall into line in his 22-point, 10-rebound, 13-assist afternoon was a piece of glass.
“I had like 12 guys over on the bench telling me to get a rebound,” he said.
Rondo completed the feat by pulling in a Hedo Turkoglu miss with 7:08 left.
It’s his first triple-double of the season and third of his career in the regular season. Rondo had three in last year’s playoffs.
“It’s nice to have it, but the biggest thing is we got the win,” he said. “I’d hate to get a triple-double or have a great game and we lose. It means nothing.
“But we’ve got another game tomorrow night, so you have to move on. It ain’t like I got a week to sit back and think about it. It’s on to the next.”
Rondo’s day also included a banked-in 3-pointer in the first quarter. That made him 3-for-3 from long distance in the last two games after hitting just 3-of-27 to start the season. The last three attempts have all been necessitated by a dwindling 24-second clock.
“Yeah, I’m getting hot right now, huh?” he said with a smile. “I’m shooting them in practice. I’m shooting them before the game. I’m just trying to extend my range, but that’s not my focus. It’s just that I had to shoot those shots at the time. You know, I’d rather drive all day long.”
And the bank shot?
“Yeah, I called the glass,” he said.
Posts
