So if the injured Rajon Rondo is able to play 35-40 minutes tonight, what does that mean for the Celts? Obviously if Rondo can't go we will probably be stuck with the brick-laying Sam Cassell who's shooting a whopping 33 percent from the field to go along with 0-4 from three point range in the Finals. However, having Rondo in the game isn't always a good thing. Yes, his 27 assists and 9.0 assists per game crush the next best passer in the finals (Kobe with 15 total assists/5.0 per game), but unless he's passing to a wide open Ray behind the arc, or to Powe directly under the basket, what good is it doing? Rondo can't finish consistently enough around the basket yet and he's essentially useless from beyond 15 feet. Don't get me wrong, it's easy to forget he's just a second year player, and I'm excited about his long term potential. I think he plays good defense and he's got great speed, but lately the offense just isn't flowing when he's in the game. The Celtics' two main offensive choices are either a Paul Pierce 360 fade-away hero shot, or the streaky KG 20-foot jump shot. Speaking of which, KG takes way too many jumpers, he needs to just dunk the ball more. Every time KG slams one down, it energizes the team and the entire crowd gets back into the game. A great dunk doesn't just score points, it sends a message. It seems like the Lakers figured out pretty early that all they had to do was take a defensive man off Rondo and stick a double team on Garnett, since Rondo pretty much craps his pants every time he's left open for a jumper. This is where Eddie House could be deadly. There's no way the Lakers can leave House open outside for shots, he's too quick and can catch fire. I won't even get my hopes up that Doc will finally figure this out. Here we go again, Game 4 tonight at 9pm ET.-photo aol.nba.com
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