Rondo’s Domination, In Numbers

Posted by Zach Lowe on May 9, 2010 801425 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F05%2F09%2Frondos-domination-in-numbers%2FRondo%27s+Domination%2C+In+Numbers2010-05-10+03%3A17%3A01Zach+Lowehttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D8014

Basketball-Reference’s database for individual player games goes back to the 1990-91 season. You might be wondering things like, gee, how often has an NBA player put up those sorts of numbers in an NBA playoff game. Let’s find out! 

Since the ’91 season, exactly one other guard has scored at least 25 points and grabbed at least 18 rebounds in a playoff game. I’ll give you one guess who that might be.

Yup, it’s Michael Jordan, who slapped up a 38-19-7 on Philadelphia in a 1991 playoff win. 

How about if we drop the rebounding criteria down to 15 boards? We’re left with this list of 25-15 games by guards in the playoffs:

So, yeah, four other players and Rondo. Not a bad group. That Bonzi Wells outburst in 2006—a multi-game outburst, by the way—was one of the most random stretches of elite play in NBA history. 

Oh, and how many times has a player (of any position) put up at least 29 points, 18 boards and 13 assists in a playoff game since ’91? 

None. 

Until Rajon Rondo did it Sunday. 

And the C’s needed it, in part because they could not get their perimeter game going. Boston made just 1 of 14 three-point attempts, prompting a commenter to ask how often Boston has won when making so few triples. 

Answer: Since the KG/Ray trades, the Celtics are 2-5 in the regular season in games in which they hit 0 or 1 three-pointers and 3-1 in the playoffs (including Sunday’s win against the Cavs). 

So that’s 11 games out of 295 total the C’s have played since KG/Ray got here, or one game out of every 27. 

Overall, NBA teams were 18-56 this season in games in which they hit 0 or 1 threes. So it’s unusual for teams to win such games in an era in which the three has become a crucial weapon for just about every good team. 

But the C’s got Sunday’s game, in large part because of their $55 million point guard.