Admittedly, it's hard to get pumped out about any NBA regular season game unless you're going or some other special situation.
Still, there's a reason I set the DVR for the Celtics' game at the Detroit Pistons last night and I plan to the do the same for the rest of the season - Rajon Rondo.
Boston's young point guard is the heart and soul of the team and he is playing on another level right now.
In last night's easy 106-89 win for the Celts (3-1) at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Rondo had 17 assists and no turnovers. Think about that. This comes after a triple-double on Friday vs. the Knicks with 24 assists (four short of the franchise record by Bob Cousy).
I've never seen a guy that's able to control the game like he can, especially when he's not much of a scoring threat at all himself.
Kevin Garnett looks more like the 2008 KG than last year's shadow of himself. He had 22 points, Paul Pierce had 21 points and Ray Allen added 16 points.
In his first start for the Green, zombie Jermaine O'Neal even had 12 points and two blocks. He was getting plenty of open looks so if he can knock a few shots down a game, Boston will be in great shape. Him and Shaq are sure to be hurt a ton this season and Kendrick Perkins won't come back until at least January.
The C's bench continues to play well without its leader - Delonte West. Glen Davis had 10 points, Marquis Daniels scored nine while rookies Luke Harangody (4 points) and Semih Erden (2 points, 2 blocks) scored their first NBA buckets in limited action.
Detroit (0-4) is a mess as they're off to their first 0-4 start in 11 seasons. They can't seem to decide if they want to completely rebuild around Rodney Stuckey (15 points) and Austin Daye (16 points) or live off past glory with Ben Wallace (6 points, 8 rebounds) and Tayshaun Prince (10 points), not to mention Richard Hamilton, who didn't play since he's injured.
I don't know where Ben Gordon (14 points) fits into that equation but either way, the Pistons are going nowhere fast despite having a decent collection of talent. Charlie Villanueva should start, even though he doesn't play defense, since he put up a team-high 17 points and seven rebounds off the bench.
Boston shot 51.9% to Detroit's 44.9%. The Celtics made five more 3-pointers (7-2) and shot 100% from the free throw line (18 for 18). Oh and they had a whopping 20 more assists (33-13), eight more steals (10-2) and five more blocks (7-2). The Pistons had 17 turnovers while the C's only had eight, which was a great sign since that's been a major issue in their first few games this season.
The other big issue will come tonight as they face the Milwaukee Bucks at the TD Garden. Can the Celts beat a good team in the second night of back to back games? The Bucks have gotten off to a slow start but the Celtics lost in Cleveland last week under similar circumstances to a bad team.
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