Rajon Rondo has appeared in six games for the Celtics since returning from ACL surgery a couple of weeks ago, but given the drop-off in talent on the roster from when he suited up last season, the 0-6 record Boston has endured is somewhat understandable.
It also conveniently factors into the team’s decision to take the cautious approach where Rondo is concerned, sitting him on the second night of back-to-back contests as the Celtics did once again for Wednesday night’s game against the Sixers.
From Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston:[Head coach Brad Stevens] had speculated Tuesday that Rondo might be able to play in Wednesday’s game, but quickly backtracked after a conversation with team trainer Ed Lacerte.
“That was just me talking off the top of my head and I didn’t even check before I said it. I probably should have checked first,” admitted Stevens. “It was one of those things where, I actually asked Ed a couple minutes after I talked to [reporters on Tuesday] and Ed said, ‘Doubtful we would do that this early.’ ”
Rondo is a shell of his former self at this point of his comeback, with averages of 6.7 points (on 27.9 percent shooting) and 5.7 assists that are near 50 percent below the level of production we’ve come to expect.
With the Celtics having zero expectations of winning this season, and considering how far away Rondo actually is from playing at an All-Star level, he might as well sit as often as the team believes is necessary.