Rondo Makes 20 Assists, Celtics beat Raptors 107-89

Rondo Makes 20 Assists, Celtics beat Raptors 107-89

After missing a game because of a sprained right ankle, Rajon Rondo made up for lost time in a big way for the Boston Celtics.

Rondo had 20 assists for the second time this season and added six points to help the Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors 107-89 on Saturday.

Jason Terry scored 20 points, Paul Pierce added 19 points and six rebounds before sitting out the fourth quarter, and Kevin Garnett scored 15 points in 17 minutes of playing time.

The Celtics held big leads early and late, but had to survive several courses in between while winning for the fourth time in five games. And any worries Boston fans might have had about Rondo's ankle were quickly washed away when he had seven assists in the first quarter.

''We have an offense and then he creates another offense at times,'' Boston coach Doc Rivers said.

After sitting out a loss at Brooklyn on Thursday night, Rondo appeared at full strength. He had 11 assists at halftime, extending his streak of consecutive games with double-digit assists to 33.

''Something I look forward to every game is just trying to make my teammates happy. And somehow I keep getting to 10,'' Rondo said. ''Tonight it was a collective team effort as far as assists.''

With Rondo leading the way and finishing just four shy of his career high, the Celtics had assists on 37 of 43 field goals.

Rondo, who played only 1:26 in the fourth quarter, is within four games of tying John Stockton for the second-longest streak in NBA history for consecutive games with 10 or more assists. Magic Johnson holds the record at 46.

''I'm making some OK passes - just taking what the defense gives me,'' Rondo said. ''It means my teammates are making shots.''

Posted by Andre Monohan on Monday November 19 2012, 2:46 AM EDT. Ref: Google. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0