Rondo Rebounds Hard During Celtics Big Win Over Bulls

Following Friday night’s fourth quarter disappointment in Toronto, the Boston Celtics entered Sunday’s game against the Chicago Bulls with more than just retribution and revenge on their tired minds.

For once, Sunday night’s game was a chance for the Celtics to take advantage of an understrength Bulls side – and with Derrick Rose on the bench nurturing a back injury; the Celtics snatched a 95-91 win convincingly at the TD Garden.

After earning himself a triple double of 32-points, 10 rebounds and 15 assists (throw in a cool dunk pass to Chris Wilcox while you’re at it), point guard Rajon Rondo also looks to be back in his 2011 form.

Chalk it up to being snubbed from this years All Star Game, or the constant talk surrounding newly emerged superstar Jeremy Lin in New York, but something seemed to tick for Rondo against an unsteady Bulls defense this weekend.

“Today was a needed win, nothing else” Kevin Garnett told reporters after the game. “I think we came out with a lot of energy, we hit first, and we were aggressive”.

The most promising part of Sunday night’s win however, wasn’t the aggressiveness that the Celtics have lacked just about all season. Instead, it was the emergence of two fresh face superstars – Chris     Wilcox and JaJuan Johnson.                                                

While both players may be beside the point right now when it comes to popularity and minutes on the court, it appears that the Celtics have fully committed to developing each of them early ahead of the postseason.

Similar to college hoops, given Boston’s incredibly short roster depth and weak bench strength, the Celtics look like they are ready to place Wilcox and Johnson in a much broader role. Meanwhile as the days go by, assuring them a little added experience when playoff basketball kicks off can’t hurt either player – especially Johnson who is still experiencing the highs and lows of being a rookie in such a structured team.

The Celtics now take three days off to recuperate and prepare for the Detroit Pistons on the 19^th. Originally it appeared that Paul Pierce would be in need of the three day break after carrying much of the workload the past two weeks, but after Rondo’s show-steal on Sunday, Doc Rivers can rest assured that no one has any excuse for a poor performance come Wednesday night back in Boston.

(Celtics vs. Bulls highlights, courtesy of NBA.com)