Rondo leads Mavs to victory in his return to Boston

On Friday night Rajon Rondo helped the Dallas Mavericks to overcome his former team the Boston Celtics with a dominant 119-101 win.

Emotions were already running high before the game, as the TD Garden crowd prepared to honour Rondo, their former player from the famous Celtics team that won the championship in 2008. Rondo proved to be the difference between the two sides.

The veteran point guard from Kentucky was traded on December 18th, in a deal that saw Boston acquiring several players and two future draft picks in return. The deal ended long speculation on Rondo’s future in Boston, that have been ongoing for the last few seasons.

From the start the Mavericks dominated the court. They used the open spaces on the perimeter to score three-pointers as the Celtics struggled to get under the basket. Rondo delivered a fine display as he finished with a season-high 29 points, scoring the first ten for his team and then making a career-high five baskets from behind the arc.

After the end of the first period, a video tribute was played in honour of the former Celtics point guard who spent eight seasons in Boston. More standing ovations followed as Rondo got up from the bench to thank and wave to the fans.

The game continued with Dallas staying in control throughout much of the game. The Celtics came close to no more than a ten point difference in the fourth, but Dallas pulled away again.

Monta Ellis added 22 points, Dirk Nowitzki had 17 and Tyson Chandler collected 16 rebounds paving the way for a fourth consecutive Mavs victory. For the Celtics Avery Bradley scored 22 points and Tyler Zeller had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

Boston (11-19) are playing the red-hot Chicago Bulls next on Saturday night as Dallas (24-10) will continue their three-game away trip in Cleveland, to play the Cavs on Sunday.

By Kaloyan Ivanov