We passed along a report last week that said Boston’s Rajon Rondo was targeting a return Jan. 17 — this Friday against the rival Los Angeles Lakers. A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com also said that date was the goal.
Rondo basically confirmed that on twitter Monday night — but in a very Rondo way.
https://twitter.com/RajonRondo/statuses/422951741773336576
If you don’t want to do the math at home, that works out to a little bit more than 338 days — the amount of time from when Rondo tore his ACL Feb. 13, 2013, until this Friday, Jan. 17, 2013.
Boston could use his return, it has lost nine games in a row and 12 of their last 13. It’s hard to pin the slide on one side of the ball or the other — in it’s last 10 games Boston has the NBA’s 27th ranked offense (in points per possession) and 27th ranked defense (points allowed per possession). The offense has struggled all season for Boston, but the defense has gotten worse.
Rondo should help on both ends. He’s an active, pesky defender. On offense, he helps organize the offense in a way they just have not had this season.
“We’re really looking forward to getting him back on the court,” Brandon Bass told ProBasketballTalk. “I think he’s huge for the team. He’s a veteran player, he’s been on winning teams, he’s won a championship, and he’s one of those pieces that when you add him to your team he simplifies things. He makes things easier for everybody. On good teams everybody doesn’t have to make all the decisions, Rondo simplifies things like he did for Hall of Famers and like he’ll do for second and third year players. And ninth year players like myself.”