Rajon Rondo had a huge bounce back game
After playing one of his worst games in a Lakers uniform in Utah, Rajon Rondo ran the offense to near perfection. After Alex Caruso stole the headlines for the last couple of days which even called for a shut down from my last post game report.
Whatever was Rondo’s motivation was, it worked.
In 35 minutes of play, Rajon Rondo scored 7 points and dished out a season-high 17 assists. In addition, he grabbed 6 rebounds and stole the ball 5 times. What’s even more remarkable was he turned the ball over only once. Rondo was the orchestrator to a Lakers offense that had 34 assists as a team.
His activity on defense started the Lakers fast break that got them a slam dunk to start the game. He ran the floor setting up his teammates with pin point passes for easy baskets instead of over dribbling and making lazy one-handed passes that was driving Luke Walton nuts.
What I really liked about Rajon Rondo’s game was how he made the game easier for Kyle Kuzma.
It’s no secret that Kyle Kuzma is struggling with his offensive game as of late, especially his long distance shooting. Rajon Rondo hit Kuzma with passes for easy baskets. Kyle Kuzma probably scored the easiest 20 points of the season thanks to Rondo’s playmaking.
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1111826493200429061
As Rondo probes the defense with the dribble through the paint, Kuzma takes advantage of the Hornets lack of rim protection and throws it down.
Rondo played a great game, but like the entire season, the rotation leaves more questions than answers. The Lakers are playing out the string and should be evaluating players for the future. After playing so well in Utah, Alex Caruso played only 18 minutes with Scott Machado playing only one.
Unless the Lakers plan to re-sign Rajon Rondo in the offseason, these games are being wasted for the young players to show what they have to offer the Lakers next year.
Rondo did talk about playing next year for the Lakers after the game saying he would like to come back. Stay tuned for that.