No one was more grateful for the effort of Rajon Rondo late in the fourth quarter Saturday night than Paul Pierce. The Celtics captain fouled out with 4:16 remaining and the Celtics leading by just three, 71-68.
Rondo took over the game and scored 11 of Boston's next 12 points to lead the Celtics to an 85-75 win over the Sixers in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals.
"I said, 'Great work, we needed it.' We needed every drop that he gave us tonight," Pierce said afterward. "It was great work."
Pierce fouled out after scoring 15 points in nearly 37 minutes. Rondo took responsibility for Pierce's disqualification on fouls.
"I felt I was part of the reason he fouled out," Rondo said. "I had two bad turnovers. I felt somewhat responsible for it. My night wasn't going well all night. I just figured stay with it, stay positive and something will happen."
Rondo finished with a triple-double of 18 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, his 22nd career triple-double and second of the series. For more, visit the Celtics team page at weei.com/celtics [1] and the Green Street [2] blog.
Links:
[1] http://www.weei.com/celtics
[2] http://www.greenstreet.weei.com
[3] http://www.weei.com/category/boston/celtics