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NBA FINALS: CELTIC v LAKERS

June 6, 2010

Rajon Rondo

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Game Two

Boston Celtics 103
Los Angeles Lakers 94

Q. Could you talk a little bit about the difference in the level of responsibility you have with this team as opposed to in 2008 the last time you guys made The Finals?
RAJON RONDO: I think it starts with my energy level, picking up the ball full court. And then when I get the ball on the offensive end, just trying to push the ball and push the tempo and getting guys easy looks on the floor.

Q. You went back to your hotel room after Game 1 and watched the entire game on tape you were saying yesterday. Was there anything from that experience you took into tonight's game?
RAJON RONDO: Getting the loose balls. I think that was key for me personally, trying to track down all the long rebounds. Doing a great job of making them take tough shots and rebound the ball, but it's going to take a team effort to rebound the ball and beat those guys on the boards.

Q. You've had triple-doubles obviously before, but can you talk about what it means to have one on basketball's biggest stage, The Finals, against the Lakers, Magic Johnson in the building, Mr. Triple-Double himself?
RAJON RONDO: I think the best part about getting a triple-double is getting a win. That's pretty much it. I think for me it would be pointless to get a triple-double and lose the game. You've done all you can do, but to go out of here with a loss would be devastating for me personally. But the bottom line I'm extremely happy because we got the win.

Q. Talk about Ray getting to his spots, you getting him the ball. As Doc always tells you, you're running the show when you're out there.
RAJON RONDO: I can't say enough about what Ray did for us tonight especially in the first half. He carried us the whole way. Guys were in foul trouble from Kevin to Perk, just everyone. We were playing on the edge, but Ray, he held us through it. We got through the first half, he took over the game. For me personally it was fun to watch. I just tried to give him the ball on time and on target when he needed it.

Q. Can you talk about the play on which you stole the ball from Kobe and he got his fifth foul.
RAJON RONDO: In the corner?

Q. Yeah.
RAJON RONDO: I think that possession he was dribbling the ball extremely high, and I thought I could make a stab for the ball, and I came up with it, and he tried to I guess corner me in the corner of the court, and I drew the foul.

Q. Nate came in in the fourth quarter and played well obviously, but also gave you a little bit of a break. Did you need that break for the last six minutes? Doc said you were exhausted.
RAJON RONDO: Yeah, I needed it. Nate played great. It's the second time he's done that this year. He was ready when his name was called. I think he made like seven points in like four or five minutes.
It's going to be a team effort. No one guy is going to win the game. Just can't talk enough about what Tony Allen did for us tonight, Big Baby, Rasheed, as well. He's going through his injuries. Just played great for us tonight.

Q. The last jump shot you hit late in the fourth quarter you were pretty open. Were you surprised that Kobe didn't run out to you?
RAJON RONDO: No. I'm going to be given that shot the entire Finals. It was a close game. I knew it was coming to me and I wanted to knock it down.

Q. Can you just talk about the one play near an eight-second violation and Doc leaps onto the court to call a time-out. Just kind of explain that sequence. Did you chuckle at all when he called that time-out?
RAJON RONDO: No, I mean, Doc is a pretty intelligent coach. He knew the time to score, he knew the possession we needed to continue to keep the ball because if we didn't, we were stuck in the backcourt with an eight-second violation. So he did a great job of recognizing it.
It was kind of hectic because I think Perk had got the rebound and got it to me, and then I think Paul had hit the ground, Artest and Kobe were trying to trap me, so I was trying to dribble around, and it got down to 17 seconds, and Doc did a great job of calling the time-out.

Q. Could you talk about, you were talking about it wouldn't mean much if the team had lost, but you didn't lose. Talk about what it means to come through on this stage in a game like this in The Finals, a game that you sort of wanted to split the series and to help the team with this triple-double?
RAJON RONDO: Anything I can do to help the team win is big. I take pride in my game and how I play the game. As far as assists, Ray probably made eight of those assists. Rebounding, just having a knack for the ball, and the points came in the full court and KG set some great picks for us tonight. He didn't have a great night offensively for us but he set some great picks getting Ray open in the first quarter along with Perk. Then the second half in the fourth quarter he set some great picks for me to get some easy looks and lay-ups.

Q. What does it mean to regain that home-court?
RAJON RONDO: It was big for us. It would be tough for us to go home and win three straight. It's possible, but it would be very tough with the defending champs. We did what we needed to do, came out here and got a split.

Q. Is there such a thing as momentum game to game? And if there is how come you guys did what you did after this last one and how do you take that back into Boston?
RAJON RONDO: It's tough. You know, one game could change the whole series. Tonight we came in and did what we had to do. We got the win. We played extremely hard tonight. But like you said, Game 3 is the biggest game of the series so far. These two games are behind us. You know, they're not in a bad situation at all. They're a good road team, and we're a good home team. It's going to be a good game.

Q. Can you talk about the rebounding specifically for you. It seems like when you rebound you really get the team into the break on transition.
RAJON RONDO: I think when I rebound I'm able to start the fast break myself, instead of an outlet pass. They did a good job tonight of jamming outlets and getting steals. But for the most part our bigs did a great job handling the ball. When I rebound the ball, like I said, it starts with me and I'm able to push the ball on the break.

Q. You seemed to have regained the way of Rondo, even before the game taking shots, behind the basket you were loose. Did you feel that you were just much more relaxed tonight and that helped your game?
RAJON RONDO: You could say so. I'm not a pretty superstitious guy, but I did things different today. I felt real good shooting the ball before the game. I did my usual routine shooting the ball behind the basket, and I was relaxed going out there to play. DA, Danny Ainge, told me before the game, try to get a lot of FGA's up tonight, and I did. I didn't shooting extremely well but I was being aggressive. If we lose the game I want to go out being aggressive. I don't want to fall back or hold anything back.

Q. In Game 1 you guys were in a lot of the half-court offense, and today you guys really made a concerted effort to get out there in the open court. Was there any differences in approach to Game 1 and Game 2?
RAJON RONDO: Simple: Just rebounding. I think they missed the same shots they missed in Game 1 but those guys were the aggressive ones, and they got those rebounds and loose balls. We got them tonight, and we were able to get down on the break and attack.

Q. What was the motivating factor? Was all of the negative press, did it act as a motivator for you guys to come out here more determined and make a great showing?
RAJON RONDO: No, it's The Finals. For me personally, I don't think anyone should need motivation from the negativity that the media may bring or anyone may bring in our locker room. It's The Finals. If you're not motivated, then you shouldn't be here.

Q. Who was the spark plug or the person who energized you guys throughout the locker room? Was there any one particular player that said, let's get it together?
RAJON RONDO: No, no one particular player. I think the team, you can just feel the vibe. I think we felt it was kind of the vibe we had in I think it was Game 6 to close out Orlando. We knew we weren't going to lose. We handled adversity well tonight. Things didn't go our way as far as calls, loose balls, but we stayed together and got the win.

Q. Can you talk about what you guys did defensively the last five minutes of the game.
RAJON RONDO: We played great team defense. We knew not one person could stop Kobe even though Ray Allen and Tony Allen did a great job, but we wanted to make him see five guys. He did a great job digging against our bigs. When they posted the ball, Gasol, I think we got a couple of digs out on him and made him turn the ball. We contested Ron Artest's shots and Fisher's shot, so it was a team effort. We really locked in in getting stops the last five minutes of the game.

End of FastScripts

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