In their first game of 2012, the Boston Celtics enjoyed a brilliant effort by Rajon Rondo to beat the Washington Wizards 94-86 on January 1. Rondo recorded the NBA’s first triple-double of the 2011-12 season with 18 points, 11 rebounds and 14 assists in just under 34 minutes of action. Boston held the Wizards to only 34 first-half points and maintained a double-digit lead for most of the game. The Celtics improved to 2-3 while the Wizards fell to 0-4.

Rondo dissected the Wizards’ defense en route to six assists in the first eight minutes of the game. He powered the Celtics to an early 10-2 run to go up 21-11. Much to the delight of Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett started looking for his shot early; he tallied six points and three rebounds in less than six minutes of first quarter action and led all scorers with 24 in the game. Boston led 28-17 through the first 12 minutes.

Led by strong play by Brandon Bass and Greg Stiemsma, the Celtics’ second unit did a good job of maintaining the lead against the Wizards’ reserves. Washington’s starters came in and ran off six straight points against Boston’s bench, but the Celtics’ first unit returned and immediately ran off eight straight of their own. The Celtics’ reunited starting five overwhelmed Washington and ran up a lead as big as 19 in the second quarter. They went into halftime up 51-34.

In the second-half, the recent struggles of the Celtics’ interior defense were apparent again. Penetration was met with little resistance inside as the Celtics’ lead was shaved to as few as seven. Rondo continued to look like the best player on the floor as he facilitated most of Boston’s offense; he already had a double-double midway through the third quarter. His work made up for most of the defensive shortcomings and the Celtics were back up by 13 entering the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth, the Celtics’ offense temporarily stalled with Rondo out of the game. Consecutive jumpers by Stiemsma and Ray Allen kept the Wizards from erasing the bulk of the deficit. Rondo’s return pushed the lead back to double-figures almost instantly; in just 1:04, Rondo sparked a 6-0 run to increase the Celtics’ lead from seven to 13 midway through the fourth. Their lead remained in double-digits until the final minute when the Wizards scored six straight in garbage time to make the final score appear closer than the game itself.

With a comfortable lead for most of the game, the Celtics were able to keep their starters’ minutes in check; only Rondo, Allen and Bass played 30-plus. That puts them in good shape entering tomorrow, January 2, when they meet the Wizards again for the second-half of their home-and-home.

Sources:

Boston at Washington, Sunday, January 1, 2012, NBA—Yahoo! Sports

NBA.com: Stats

William Menna is a native New Englander and longtime Boston sports fan.

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