Rondo Shows Up Westbrook, and Celtics Beat Thunder

(Nov. 8) -- It's a long season, and Sunday night's game between the Boston Celtics and the Oklahoma City Thunder could be perceived as just another, relatively meaningless game. The Celtics defeated the up-and-coming Thunder by a score of 92-83. But there was a subplot to the game, as it featured a point-guard duel between Boston's Rajon Rondo, who was left off the U.S. squad that recently won the World Championships in Turkey, and Russell Westbrook, who made the final cut.

The box score suggested both had equally good games, each with 10 assists. Rondo also had 10 points, while Westbrook finished with 16. But if you watched the game, you saw Rondo playing with a special intensity, and during the first half, in which Boston built its big lead, Westbrook mustered a mere two points and turned the ball over on several occasions.

Technically, Rondo wasn't cut from Team USA. He withdrew himself before the final cuts were announced. But he knew he probably wouldn't make it. "I think I'm on the bubble," Rondo told ESPN.com. "Just looking at the obvious -- I got a DNP last game. That pretty much speaks for itself." Rondo's (only) weakness -- he's a poor shooter -- could have been exploited in the international game; that was the conventional thinking, which has been vindicated by Team USA's championship and the stellar play of the (five!) point guards picked over Rondo: Westbrook, Derrick Rose, Chauncey Billups, Stephen Curry and Eric Gordon.

And yet it appears that the slight has provided a boost for Rondo this season. In his first three games of the season, he recorded 50 assists, tying the NBA record set by Hall-of-Famer John Stockton. And with five games, he set a new NBA record, with 82 dimes. Night after night, he's making the case that you don't need to be a scorer first to be your team's most valuable player. So mark on your calendar the games where Rondo squares off his Team USA rivals, and expect great things.

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