Charlotte Bobcats, worst in the league, end Boston Celtics' 7 game win streak 94-91

CHARLOTTE, NC – FEBRUARY 11: Teammates Kemba Walker #15 and Gerald Henderson #9 of the Charlotte Bobcats try to stop Paul Pierce #34 of the Boston Celtics during their game at Time Warner Cable Arena

The Boston Celtics lost 94-91 to the Bobcats. They call it a trap game. A team riding a hot winning streak goes up against a bottom feeder and gets complacent. We’re riding a 9 game win streak, we can take care of these amateurs easily, right? And thus the trap is set. Check and mate and the winning streak gets blown. That’s exactly what happened to the San Antonio Spurs a few days ago when their 11 game win streak was ended by the Detroit Pistons. And that’s just what happened to the Boston Celtics today when they took their seven game win streak to face the Charlotte Bobcats. The Bobcats took the third quarter 33-24 to jump on the Celtics and both teams scored 19 points apiece in the fourth quarter to let the Bobcats take this one.

For the Celtics, four players finished in double figures. Jason Terry had 18 off the bench on 5-8 shooting. Kevin Garnett added 16 on 5-13 shooting with 13 rebounds and 3 assists. Paul Pierce had 13 on 4-12 shooting with 8 rebounds and 8 assists. In Rondo’s absence, Pierce has taken it upon himself to almost get triple doubles in games. Speaking of Rondo’s absence, it has resulted in a marked improvement in the Celtics’ offense in pick and roll situations. Rondo’s expertise in creating is unparalleled, but the one criticism he draws is that he isn’t much of a scorer. In pick and roll situations, teams sag off Rondo; but now with Pierce, Terry and Barbosa running the roll, teams have to account for the ball handler in pick and roll as scorers themselves. Prior to Rondo’s injury, pick and roll made up for 11% of the Celtics’ possessions and they averaged .80 points per possession among those. With Rondo out, the Celtics are using the pick and roll for 14.5% of their possessions and scoring 0.86 points per possession. This brings to mind the argument that a point guard needs to be respected as a scorer so he can draw defenses at him and dish it off to his teammates. Think Chris Paul and Steve Nash. It’s a testament to Rondo’s excellence that in spite of not being an elite scorer he is still able to lead the league in assists.

Rajon Rondo to make a return sooner than expected?

For the Bobcats, four players finished in double figures. Byron Mullens had 25 points on 10 for 16 shooting with a whooping 18 rebounds and 4 assists. Ramon Sessions came off the bench for 19 points on 6 for 11 shooting. Kemba Walker had 18 with 6 boards and 6 assists. Gerald Henderson had 16 points on 6-15 shooting. The Bobcats shot 42.9% from the field to 41.6% of the Celtics.

With this win the Bobcats improved to 12-39, still the worst record in the league. The Celtics dropped to 27-24 and the Bucks are fast closing in on them with their 25-25 record. There is some hope for the Celtics though, thanks to this statement from Rondo’s agent Billy Duffy- “It’s still too early to tell for sure. But we are very optimistic about his return now that we know his injury is only a partial tear and not a full tear.” The situation is not as severe as was thought. A full tear requires surgery which makes the player miss more games. A partial tear can heal on its own. Rondo’s case is a little more severe and he may still need surgery.

The Celtics have shown that Rondo or no Rondo, they are still capable of making a run. Their seven game streak may have ended but they take the knowledge that they are fully equipped to go deep in the post-season.