There are days when Rajon Rondo is so good at his job that you wouldn’t trade him for any point guard in the world, and yes, that includes Chris Paul. Days like Sunday against the Bulls, for example, when he scored 32 points, dished out 15 assists and grabbed 10 rebounds.

How good was Rondo’s game? That line has only been reached nine other times in the history of the NBA, by six other players. (Magic Johnson did it three times.) The roll call: Magic, Larry Bird, LeBron James, Jason Kidd, Reggie Theus and Baron Davis. (Hat tip to Beckley Mason for the find).

“[Rondo] was edgy today, man. I loved it,” Kevin Garnett said. “I loved that he came out and set the tone. He got guys involved and he was all over the place. When we win big it’s because the little fella is aggressive like that. I told him after tonight’s game that I was proud of him. He had a bit of a rough day but he played through it. He was professional and I thought he came out and played with that edge. Any time he does that it makes everyone’s job easier.”

Garnett didn’t elaborate on Rondo’s rough day, but one has to think that at least part of it included Friday’s debacle in Toronto when the Celtics scored 74 points and Rondo scored just five points on 2-for-10 shooting with five turnovers.

Celtics coach Doc Rivers aired his team out after the defeat using phrases like “mentally weak,” and “unprofessional” and while he was careful not to point fingers publicly, the blame -- fair or unfair -- tends to fall on Rondo’s shoulders. Did Friday’s game have any effect on Rondo’s effort against the Bulls? 

“Oh, I don’t know,” Rivers said. “I’m going to let you guys be that deep. I wish I could get in someone’s head that deep. I just think he wanted to win.”

Whatever was in Rondo’s head will stay there because he refused to talk to the press after the Celtics' much-needed 95-91 victory over Chicago. Even with Chicago missing Derrick Rose (back spasms), this was an important victory for the Celtics, who saw some of the good will they have generated over the last few weeks evaporate after two tough defeats against the Lakers and Raptors.

“We needed a win,” Garnett said. “Today was a huge game for us. Dealing with everything that happened in Toronto, yeah, today was a needed win. Nothing else said. It was. And I thought we played like it.

“I thought we played with an edge,” he continued. “We played like the old Celtics that I know we are. Doc came in and gave us a good talking to, something we needed to hear.”

Mostly, Rivers wanted his team to run. The C's had become too stationary the last week, including a tougher-than-expected victory over the lowly Bobcats. Rivers showed them old films of not just Rondo pushing the ball up the court, but of Ray Allen and Paul Pierce running to the wings and the big men getting up and down the floor for layups. 

“Enough of the walking,” Rivers emphasized. “And it’s not Rondo. It’s the team. The bigs have to run the floor. Paul and Ray have to run the floor.”

All of this leads to the fundamental question that the Celtics front office must answer. Is Rondo the centerpiece for the next generation, or is building a team from scratch around a talented, but undeniably enigmatic and unorthodox point guard, an impossibly difficult task? An even better question: Can a team like that win?

The Celtics went 6-2 without Rondo while he was recovering from a sprained wrist, running a simplified offense that revolved around Pierce running high pick and rolls. It was basic meat-and-potatoes basketball. Play defense, don’t turn it over and get the ball in the hands of your best offensive player.

They weren’t just beating also-rans during that stretch. They beat the Magic twice and crushed the Pacers, a team that had beat them handily two times previously. It wasn’t flashy, but it was highly effective and it essentially saved the Celtics season.

But building a team around Rondo is different. He’s a pass-first point guard, but he’s also a devastating one-man fast break with the ability to finish at the rim comparable to the best guards in the league, and the Celtics simply aren’t built to play that way all the time.

Enter Chris Wilcox and JaJuan Johnson, a pair of athletic big men who have been at the end of the rotation in Wilcox’s case and the end of the bench in Johnson’s. Wilcox and Johnson were pressed into service with Jermaine O’Neal and Brandon Bass sidelined with injuries and their play on Sunday -- 23 points, 13 rebounds, 11-for-19 shooting -- was a revelation.

Rondo didn’t score until late in the fourth quarter when he iced the game with four clutch free throws -- a different, but also welcome, revelation. But in one 21-second stretch he found both players for fast break alley-oop dunks, momentarily turning the Celtics into the East Coast branch of Lob City.

“When he’s assertive, aggressive, the way he played tonight, we’re a pretty tough team to stop,” Pierce said. “He’s one of those guys, when he plays with a lot of energy he’s so tough because he can rebound the ball well and he pushes out on the break. He’s tough to stop in transition. He just did it all tonight. It was great to watch him carry us today.”

Imagine a team with high-flying finishers all around Rondo. He’s never had the luxury as a pro, and you probably have to go back to his days at Oak Hill Academy when he was throwing alley-oops to current Hawk Josh Smith. It would be an unorthodox team, but then Rondo is as unique as it gets. Again, 32, 15 and 10 games don’t just happen by accident.

That’s the genius of Rondo. It’s also the Celtics’ biggest question mark.