For the ones who counted out Rajon Rondo, well the National Basketball Association (NBA) veteran has rebounded with a bang this season and such can be seen with his stint with the Sacramento Kings.
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Thomas finished with 21 points – 19 in the first half – while Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley each added 20 as the Celtics led for the final 44:09 of the game against a Kings team that hardly looked interested in competing. He is expected back in uniform for the back-to-back over the weekend. You won’t hear Rondo or his agent, Bill Duffy of BDA Sports, proclaiming his status as a max player any time soon. “But obviously you want to play good against your former team”.
I don’t think he had better options last summer, which leads to another crucial factor – Rondo’s production. He has been averaging 20.8 points this season. Now, according to usatoday.com, Rondo has been an integral piece in the Kings’ attempt to rebuilding into a playoff contender. I’ve had a lot of blowups and I’ve learned from them. And it seems like he’s dribbling and dribbling – boom. I’ve been waiting to play with Cousins for a while. He feels like he’s got confidence in his shot, and he’s shooting the three some. “He’s a champion. I basically look up to him”. Just ’cause it didn’t work out for him in Dallas doesn’t make him a bad guy. “The crowd was very good, we had a great atmosphere”. They were. But they had help to move to three games over. “And I’m happy that he’s playing well”.
The Kings have been 2-2 since the meeting while playing 3 out of those 4 games without the injured Cousins. The game will tip off at 9 p.m. CT and will air locally on Fox Sports Southwest. However, Brad Stevens for several weeks has kept his lone true center, Tyler Zeller, mostly out of the rotation.
SACRAMENTO – Utilizing a stifling defense in the second half of Saturday night’s 92-81 win over the Denver Nuggets, the Dallas Mavericks notched a much-needed victory at home after dropping three straight contests on the road.
Bradley hit back-to-back 3-pointers to start the third quarter as the Celtics used a 12-2 run to go up 69-46 with 6:58 left. Can’t really speak on that, but one thing is, us players we’ve got to stick together.
“Honestly, it’s not about us liking each other”.
“We had to grind”, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle added. The first regular-season game in Mexico City was in 1997, when the Rockets defeated the Mavericks. The Kings have recently introduced Seth Curry to the main rotation although part of that was because of the continuing struggles of Ben McLemore and an under-the-weather Marco Belinelli. But Rondo has revived his career in Sacramento, and multiple league executives told the Sporting News’ Sean Deveney that the mercurial point guard could get a max contract in 2016. The team’s best 3-point shooter (45 percent), Casspi did not play because of a bout with gastroenteritis.
The other guard facing his former team did not have almost the same night. “If you have to bully me or call me out, I can accept that”.
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A lot will happen between now and Rondo signing his next contract.
