Rajon Rondo is powering the Boston Celtics again. Held out for 6 games with lingering injuries (hamstring, ankle sprain, plantar fasciitis), Rondo returned on Sunday to help Boston cruise past the Toronto Raptors 93-79 in Canada. Though his performance was anything but stellar (4 points, 8 assists, 5 turnovers in 33 minutes), the calming influence of Rondo makes this Celtics team go.

Another night, another win with Rondo back in the starting lineup. Monday’s victim was the Minnesota Timberwolves. Though a hard fought battle that came down to the wire, the Celtics eeked out a 96-93 victory, despite the monster 12 point, 24 rebound performance from Kevin Love. Rajon Rondo did his playmaking thing with 6 points and 16 assists in nearly 35 minutes of action. Paul Pierce apparently had forgotten that Rondo was back. In the first half, Pierce was passing up shots to try to get other players involved. Doc Rivers had to remind Pierce that Rondo was back.

Paul Pierce and Ray Allen were huge for the Celtics when Rondo was out. Pierce transitioned to playmaker and Ray Allen put more of the offense on his shoulder. Kevin Garnett was a beast, but his injury prompted Rivers to bring back Rondo — ready or not. Rajon Rondo still leads the league in assists and is showing his MVP-type value to Boston. With Rondo (and a healthy Garnett), few teams if any are better than Boston. Sans Rondo, Boston is a team that struggles at times to create a flowing offense. Nate Robinson has done his best, but he is simply not the same point guard as Rajon.

Little Nate Robinson may only stand 5 foot 7 inches, but he saved the city of Boston from a humiliating loss.

Nate Robinson scored 13 points in 8 minutes of the first half as the Boston Celtics eliminated the Orlando Magic in the pivotal game six of the Eastern Conference Finals. The former New York Knickerbocker energized the aging Celtics off the bench, scoring in bunches. The veterans, most notably Paul Pierce, followed suit and bombed the Orlando Magic who failed on their attempt to become the only team in NBA history to win a 7-game series after going down 3-0.

Instant offense is exactly what is expected of Nate Robinson. Like Jamal Crawford in Atlanta or Vinny Johnson of the Pistons years back, Nate is there to do one thing: score. Tonight, on the biggest stage of his career, Nate delivered. The Celtics had all the pressure on them going into Game 6. A comfortable 3-0 series lead had been swept away by aggressive play from the Magic. Dwight Howard looked like a new man and the Celtics were having trouble containing the spritely Jameer Nelson. A loss tonight and all the momentum would be with Orlando, and the deciding game would be on their court.

The Celtics took no chances and came out aggressive. Early foul trouble on Jameer and Dwight, horrific three point shooting, and a renewed commitment to defense by the Celtics gave the Magic very little hope of winning this game. Credit the Celtics for regrouping and delivering a championship-caliber performance, even though Rondo still hasn’t found his groove since Game 3.

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Kevin Garnett hit a big shot at the buzzer to lift the Celtics over the Knicks 107-105 in OT on Sunday. A win is a win but the Celtics should not feel good about this one.

The Boston Celtics may have beaten the New York Knicks on the road on Sunday, but it took overtime and a heroic buzzer beater from Kevin Garnett to do it.

Great shot by KG. Another big time basket for the big fella. But you’ll excuse the Celtics if they are not celebrating the victory over the New York Knicks.

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With the Miami Heat, LeBron James finally accomplished what he could not with the Cavaliers: beat Boston in a seven game series.

The once-savior of the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James went turn-coat exiting the Rust Belt for South Beach last summer. Since his arrival and pairing with Superstar Dwyane Wade and (now exposed to be rather pedestrian) Chris Bosh, LeBron James has been under the microscope and expected to deliver a title to Miami. His performance throughout the season suggest and uneasy partnership with Wade, as the two often struggled to closeout games. Interesting to note that even during the playoffs, the worse lineup for the Heat (in plus-minus terms), was when the ‘Big Three’ were on the court together. On Wednesday, the Miami Heat defeated the Boston Celtics to close out the series 4-1. Unlike last year’s meltdown with the Cavaliers, LeBron James led a furious comeback and helped Miami score 18 straight points(10 of which were his) to win the game 97-87 on their home court. Afterwards, it was clear that a weight had been lifted from LeBron. For all the tough talk he had this summer about winning multiple titles, LBJ knew that he would have to defeat Boston if he wanted to win anything.

The ‘Big Three’ of Miami beat the original ‘Big Three’ of Boston in a series where health and in-season trades contributed greatly to the outcome. Danny Ainge, GM of the Celtics, curiously traded staring center Kendrick Perkins and spark-plug guard Nate Robinson for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic of the Oklahoma City Thunder. Ainge, not wanting to see the current Celtics suffer from the same problem of age that his Celtics did in the late 1980s, made a bold move to get younger and more athletic. Unfortunately, injuries and age at the center position — along with Rondo’s wrist injury — were the ultimate undoing of the Celts. Would they have won with Kendrick Perkins? Hard to say. For sure, they would have challenged Dwyane Wade and LeBron Jamees more at the rim. But truth be told, this Celtics team had chances and didn’t close. Blame the Rondo wrist or a few off games from Ray Allen, but this team still had a chance.

LeBron James and company will wait the winner of the Chicago-Atlanta series, in what will prove to be a more athletic encounter. But having already defeated experience, you have to like their chances against youth. For LeBron to truly exercise his demons, he’ll need to win it all. Remember, he’s been to the NBA Finals before, only to get swept. But this year, there will be no LA Lakers.