Watch it again. Keep your eyes only on Rondo this time. I’m almost positive he doesn’t look at Ray Allen once until he’s in midair, and even then it was just a quick glance. Unless Rondo has eyes in the back of his head, which is entirely possible. Hell, at this point it even seems probable.

While I’m discussing Rondo, was anyone else not very concerned with his injuries last night? He couldn’t stop Ty Lawson in the second quarter, but I didn’t feel like it had anything to do with Rondo’s hammies or feet. He just got caught doing what Rondo sometimes has a tendency to do — gamble. In the second half, when Rondo stopped reaching after Lawson, he began to stay in front of him. It wasn’t rocket science, and I don’t think it was Rondo being injured. It was just the simple matter of practicing the defensive principles Doc Rivers loves to preach.

Rondo’s offense, despite five turnovers, was great (read this), and his defense — despite that second-quarter nonsense — was actually pretty good. He harassed Chauncey Billups into 2-10 shooting, and only 5 points, and — as I already mentioned — did a nice job on Lawson in the second half.

The only truly troublesome incident happened in the third quarter. Rondo exited out of the game with 4:38 seconds left in the quarter, well before Rivers normally subs him out. Clearly feeling some discomfort, Rondo could be seen stretching on the sideline. He returned only a minute later, but the fear of God was instilled in me. No Celtics fan wants to see Rajon Rondo quite visibly in pain, even if he can still thoroughly control games while less than 100%.