Rajon Rondo is traded to the Dallas Mavericks. (AP)

The Dallas Mavericks sent shockwaves around the NBA by trading for Rajon Rondo. The Mavs acquired the All-Star point guard by giving up role players Brandan Wright, Jae Crowder, Jameer Nelson and draft picks to the Boston Celtics. The Celtics will reportedly receive a first-round pick in the 2015 draft and a second-rounder in 2016.

Rondo joins a Mavs squad that features future Hall-of-Famer Dirk Nowitzki, Monta Ellis, Tyson Chandler and Chandler Parsons. The new Dallas starting five easily becomes one of the most potent in the Association, and it gives Dallas coach Rick Carlisle another chess piece to work with.

Rondo could fill the Jason Kidd role that worked perfectly in 2011 when Dallas won the NBA title. Rondo does need to score to be effective. He’s a walking triple-double — just like Kidd — on offense and on defense he provides the Mavs a terrific on-the-ball defender who can stick guys like Tony Parker, Russell Westbrook, Stephen Curry and Chris Paul.

Carlisle should send his former Boston buddy Danny Ainge a Christmas card because the Celtics president of basketball operations just gift-wrapped him a wonderful holiday present. With Rondo, the Mavericks went from a very good team into one of the elite squads in the Western Conference.

“[This trade] puts [Dallas] in a position to win a championship,” ESPN analyst and former NBA player Jalen Rose said on The Grantland Basketball Hour. “They are going to be a terrific team in Dallas. [Rondo] is going to balance the floor. This guy is a floor general. He makes players around him better.”

The Mavericks are now loaded in the backcourt. Rondo and Ellis are the clear-cut starters; J.J. Barea will likely back him up at the point and Devin Harris can play either guard position. Raymond Felton is still on the roster, so Carlisle will have to make a decision who to sit because you can’t rotate five guards. It’s a nice problem to have.

If there’s a negative side to the deal it’s the Mavericks’ weakened frontcourt. Wright was a solid backup center who kept Tyson Chandler from having to play a ton of minutes. Now, Tyson will have to extend himself a bit more.

The trade ends Rondo’s nine years with the Celtics, a stretch that includes an NBA championship in 2008 and a trip to The Finals in 2010. Rondo carved out his niche in Celtic lore with some memorable playoff moments. None better than when he dislocated his left elbow in Game 3 of the playoff series against the Miami Heat in 2011. Rondo courageously returned to the game, arm dangling, and led the Celtics to an emotional win at the TD Garden.

But when the Celtics started peeling off their championship squad, Rondo — who is coming off ACL surgery last season — didn’t fit into the rebuilding process. The Celtics are clearly looking into the future, and Rondo was in the way of that plan. They drafted point guard Marcus Smart in 2014, which led many to believe was the beginning of the end of the Rondo era in Boston.

Rondo’s statistics declined in some key areas this season. His free throwing shooting percentage is a career-low .333 and his scoring average dipped to 8.3 points per game, his lowest since his rookie season of 2006-07, when he averaged 6.4.

“We all know what he does really well,’’ Celtics coach Brad Stevens told The Boston Globe. “There’s very few people in the game that can do some of the things he can do and you can probably extend that — the way he passes the ball and the way he gets other people the ball — you can extend that to the history of the game. He’s really done a lot of good things.”

Through 22 games this season, Rondo is leading the league in assists (10.8). He also is averaging a career-high 7.5 rebounds. He has also put up three triple-doubles. He has averaged 11 assists per game in four out of the last five seasons. He’s only 28 years old, so he is still in the prime of his basketball career.

“The last two years he was playing like a guy who didn’t want to get hurt,” said Grantland editor Bill Simmons, a longtime Celtics fan. “He’s gonna go to Dallas and he’s gonna be awesome. He always rose to the occasion. Now that he’s on this [Dallas] team, that’s perfect for him.”

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Kobe Bryant leads the NBA in scoring, averaging 27.5 points per game.

We’re a couple of weeks into the NBA season, and some fascinating storylines are already developing. Here are my picks for the top-10 developments and observations on the 2014-15 season so far.

1. The Rookies need time

Andrew Wiggins. Jabari Parker. Julius Randle. Marcus Smart. This was supposed to be the rookie class that made an instant impact and asserted itself as one of the best groups of all time. It’s still very early, but so far they look like, well, rookies. Randle unfortunately suffered a broken leg in his very first game, but the rest of the rookie class has been a little underwhelming. Parker still looks to be the favorite to round into form and win Rookie of the Year, but no one is a surefire future all-star just yet. Give them time.

2. Miami underrated

Don’t look now, but the Heat are pretty good without LeBron James. Endurance could be an issue, as two of their key players, Dwyane Wade and Luol Deng, are both injury prone and getting older. However, Miami has looked like a top-four seed in the East so far. Bosh has been spectacular, and Wade looks so rejuvenated that the Miami Herald even suggested that he’s all-around happier this season. We’ll see if it continues, but for now the Heat are overlooked and underrated.

3. Kobe Bryant leading league in scoring

Yes, he just set the all-time NBA mark for missed field goals, but there are some great players on that list. Great players shoot a lot. Meanwhile, a Kobe Bryant that many had written off as overpaid, selfish, injured, old, broken, etc. is playing like the Black Mamba of old. And through a few weeks, he’s leading the league in points per game.

4. Anthony Davis a top-3 player

The Anthony Davis hype train was at full steam all summer, and Davis is backing it up. Per ESPN statistics, Davis may actually be the best player in the league thus far this season. John Hollinger’s PER rankings — viewed by some as the best composite ranking of a player’s value and accomplishment — show Davis leading the NBA with a 35.79 PER. For reference, LeBron has never finished a season with a PER over 33.

5. Rajon Rondo giving Celtics options

Rajon Rondo’s comeback has been somewhat quiet, probably because his Boston Celtics just aren’t competitive. However, he is leading the league in assists, and his strong form is giving Celtics GM Danny Ainge options. Had Rondo come back and not been himself, the Celtics would have lost their most valuable trade asset and best player. Now, Ainge gets to make the decision everyone’s been waiting for: build around Rondo or trade him for a pile of assets.

6. We can’t predict the West

Here’s the thing about the West: the teams are so loaded with talent that the smallest changes can allow teams to seize opportunity—and big changes can shift the landscape dramatically. Because of the Spurs’ slow start, the Thunder’s injuries, and the Clippers’ inexplicable sluggishness, teams like the Kings and Suns appear to be playoff contenders, and the Grizzlies are leading the way as the most reliable team in the conference. Go figure.

7. Cleveland needs time

This is something we all knew deep down but wanted to overlook. It just seemed logical to crown the Cavaliers favorites. The Betfair preseason assessment did as much, giving Cleveland the top odds over the defending champion Spurs to win the Finals. But in doing so, they expressed caution. Analyst Nick Shiambouros noted that it would take time for the Cavs to get on the same page, and that more experienced teams might offer better value. Maybe we should have listened, because while Cleveland has shown dominant stretches of offense, they’re far from a polished product.

8. Philadelphia has more assets than we thought

Nerlens Noel has looked promising for Philly, but Tony Wroten has been a revelation. Wroten has always been a strong player, but these first few weeks starting for the Sixers while Michael Carter-Williams recovers from injury represent his biggest showcase yet. And he’s aced it. Wroten can and should be a starting point guard in the NBA, even earning a glowing write-up from Grantland that called him a “frenzied bundle of chaos” (in a good way) and a “raging dynamo.” He may also be turning Carter-Williams into a trade chip.

9. Klay Thompson might be NBA’s best shooting guard

James Harden is the popular choice for best shooting guard, which is a weak position in the league these days. Kobe Bryant’s resurgence is noteworthy, as is Wade’s, but Thompson is young, rapidly improving, and (unlike Harden) a great defender. He looks like he’s taking over the position.

10. Big men are back

Big men are making a bit of a comeback. Nikola Vucevic in Orlando suddenly looks like one of the best young players in the league; Jonas Valanciunas continues to improve in Toronto; Derrick Favors is finally living up to potential in Utah; Anthony Davis might be the MVP. And that’s just a few. It’s the year of the bigs, so far.

Tony Parker and Chris Paul are the MVPs of their respective teams. (GETTY IMAGES)

The two hardest positions to find in basketball are center and point guard. The game has evolved so much that the point guard’s role has expanded and the position has become more complex and more valuable than ever. There are five basic skill sets you must own in order to be play the position. First, you must take care of the ball and avoid turnovers. Second, you must be able to make all the passes. Third, you must execute the game plan and run the offense. Fourth, you must be able to create shots for teammates. Fifth, when all things break down and the shot clock is winding down, you must be able to score either with the drive or jump shot to bail your team out. The players on this list possess all these fundamental skills, and have set themselves apart from their peers.

OneManFastBreak.net rates the top points guards in the Association:

10) TY LAWSON, Denver Nuggets: Former Nuggets coach George Karl says the key to his fast-break offense was Ty Lawson. The former University of North Carolina star has gotten better and better each season, and in 2013 he averaged 17 points and seven assists. Despite his lack of size (listed at 5-11) Lawson is one of the league leaders in points in the paint because he’s a handful in the open court, with his incredible foot speed, he can beat any defender to the basket.

Denver Nuggets’ lightning-quick point guard Ty Lawson. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

9) MIKE CONLEY, Memphis Grizzlies: Conley is the son of Olympic track star Mike Conley Sr. He may not have daddy’s jumping skills but he’s definitely the better ballhandler and playmaker in the family. The former Ohio State standout is a tremendous two-way player. He takes care of the ball (6-to-2 assist-to-turnover ratio) and is a very good on-ball defender. He averages 2.2 steals per game and had 174 thefts in the 2012-13 season. When Rudy Gay was traded, the Grizzlies basically gave the keys to the car to Conley and let him drive the offense. Conley raised his profile in the 2013 playoffs when he played Chris Paul to a draw in the Grizzlies-Clippers playoff battle, won by the Grizzlies.

8) DERON WILLIAMS, Brooklyn Nets: Deron Williams is Jason Kidd with range. Much like Chris Paul, D-Will can play fast or slow. He can be a playmaker or a scorer. D-Will has the entire package. He can drive, he can hit the 3 and get his teammates easy shots. And he’s built like a tank (6-3, 209). He’s one of the few PGs who can score 20 points and get 10 assists. The only knock on Williams — and the same can be said about CP3 — is that he hasn’t been able to lift his teams past the conference semifinals, and some also question his work ethic. He came into the 2012-13 season a little out of shape, and it took nearly the whole season for him to get his conditioning up to speed.

When he’s healthy and in shape, Deron Williams is a matchup nightmare. (GETTY IMAGES)

7) KYRIE IRVING, Cleveland Cavaliers: You know you’ve arrived when you have a soda commercial. Irving is the star of the “Uncle Drew” Pepsi Max campaign, and his needle is pointing way, way up on the star-o-meter. Irving has the total package: sick handles, smooth jumper, and athletically gifted. He’s still learning to make his teammates better, and once he has figured out that aspect of the game the sky is the limit. It’s hard to erase the memories of King James in Cleveland, but Uncle Drew is slowly helping the healing process.

6) RAJON RONDO, Boston Celtics: The 6-1 guard from Kentucky was arguably the Celtics’ best player during the 2010 NBA playoffs, turning the Celtics’ Big Three into the Fantastic Four. Rondo is a unique player because he rebounds extremely well for his size, has an array of circus shots when he gets close to the basket. He can also impact the game on both ends. He’s one of the best off-the-ball defenders in the league (leading the league in steals in 2009-10), and plays the passing lanes extremely well. And when you look up the definition of “tough” in the dictionary, you may see Rondo’s name next to it. If Rondo has a weakness, it is his inability to master the mid-range jump shot. If he ever develops a consistent jumper, he’ll be unstoppable.

5) STEPHEN CURRY, Golden State Warriors: The son of Dell Curry came into the league with one of the purest jumpers you will ever see. Steph’s stroke is pure genius, and even his misses are a thing of beauty. Once he was able to overcome his ankle problems, Curry has elevated his game into superstar status. After an injury-plagued 2011-12 season in which his average dipped to 14 points, the Golden State sniper raised his scoring average to 22.9 in 2012-13. Curry had a game for the ages on Feb. 28, 2013, when he electrified the Madison Square Garden crowd by dropping 54 points on the New York Knicks. Curry knocked down 11 threes and was 18-for-28 from the field. Mark Jackson called it one of the best performances he has ever seen at the Garden. That’s high praise coming from Jackson, who grew up in New York City and was drafted by the Knicks out of St. John’s.

Stephen Curry’s 54 points electrified the Madison Square Garden crowd. (GETTY IMAGES)

4) DERRICK ROSE, Chicago Bulls: D-Rose became a star during the first round of the 2009 NBA playoffs in an epic series against the Boston Celtics. In his first NBA postseason game, Rose scored 36 points at the new Boston Garden, and his career has been on a fast track to Springfield ever since. Rose is a freakish athlete. He has tremendous handles, amazing body control, and a fearless attitude. He has improved his mid-range game and 3-point shot the last two seasons, and his hard work was rewarded when he was named NBA MVP in 2011 — the first Bulls player to win the award since Michael Jordan. Few can match Rose’s ability to maneuver around a defense. Now, the big question is, can he regain that ability after ACL surgery?

3) RUSSELL WESTBROOK, Oklahoma City Thunder: Westbrook’s coming out party occurred in the 2010 NBA playoffs when he lit up the L.A. Lakers in the first round. Phil Jackson paid Westbrook the highest respect when he assigned Kobe Bryant to guard him for much of the series. Westbrook is one of the best finishers in the game, and he attacks the rim like a Navy SEAL team storming a compound in Pakistan. The scary part about Westbrook — who was a shooting guard when he played at UCLA — is that he’s still learning the point guard position. Many pundits slam Westbrook for being too much of a gunner, saying he doesn’t have the patience nor the fundamentals to run a traditional NBA offense. Westbrook is a unique talent who thrives on raw emotion. It’s his biggest strength, so curbing Westbrook’s special skills would be like leaving a Ferrari parked in a garage and not taking it for a spin.

Russell Westbrook shoots over Chris Bosh during the second half of Game 1of the NBA Finals. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

2) CHRIS PAUL, Los Angeles Clippers: CP3 is an absolute witch with a basketball in his hands. He is capable of posting a 20-5-11-2 stat line, and few point guards can match his intensity and will to win. But Paul’s greatest strength is his the ability to change the tempo of a game. He can play fast or slow. One minute he’s pushing the ball up the court, then one minute he’s walking it up and milking the clock. Paul is the quarterback of the Greatest Show on Hardwood, aka Lob City. Whenever you see Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan on SportsCenter, they’re usually beneficiaries of a CP3 feed. Paul led the Clippers to a Pacific Division title in 2012-13 and was named to the All-NBA first team for the third time in his career. The only thing missing in Paul’s resume is a NBA championship.

1) TONY PARKER, San Antonio Spurs: In the last 20 years, only two point guards have been named MVP of the NBA Finals: Chauncey Billups and Tony Parker. Parker, the MVP of the 2007 Finals, consistently puts up superb offensive numbers, and is the only point guard on this list who shoots over 50% from the field. Few can match Parker’s speed and energy. He seems like he never gets tired and has one of the most devastating offensive weapons in basketball: the floater. The Spurs guard may not have invented the floater, or teardrop, but he certainly has perfected it. Now, almost every guard in basketball — from high school to college to the pro level — uses the one-handed push shot that drives big men absolutely crazy. With future Hall-of-Famers Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili slowing down with age, Parker has become the engine that drives the Spurs.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.

Moments after the Celtics defeated the Heat 100-98 in double overtime at TD Gardens Arena, Paul Pierce spoke with ESPN’s Doris Burke and that’s when Burke delivered the bad news to the Celtics’ team captain. Pierce’s facial reaction pretty much summed up how the Celtics felt about losing their All-Star point guard for the rest of the 2013 season.

“Oh my God!,” Pierce tells Burke. “We just gotta rally around each other. I feel for [Rondo]. He was having such a great season, making the All-Star team. It’s disappointing news, but guys gotta be ready to step up.”

Watch the interview:

“Obviously the Rondo news is pretty tough. I knew it before the game, no one else knew it,” Rivers said. “I told them after the game. Pretty emotional in the locker room.”

Rondo was averaging career highs of 13.7 points and 5.6 rebounds along with 11.1 assists this season.

A very somber Kevin Garnett added, “It’s tough on everybody. [Rondo] has become the heart and soul of this team, coming into his own. We just try to be supportive for him.”

Brooklyn Nets forward Kris Humphries (left) gets in a shoving match with Celtics Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, and Jason Terry. (GETTY IMAGES)

Rajon Rondo loves Kevin Garnett like a big brother. And when big brother got roughed up unnecessarily by the former Mr. Kardashian, little brother immediately jumped in and got in the mix.

The Boston Celtics and the Brooklyn Nets are not what you call natural rivals, but after Wednesday night’s scuffle the heat index just went up a few notches. With under a minute left in the first half and Brooklyn ahead 51-36, Nets forward and Kim K’s former beau Kris Humphries gave Garnett a hard shove that forced KG to hit the floor hard. The Celtics, especially Rondo, felt the hard foul was unnecessary so naturally the rest of the Celtics came to the aid of KG. Rondo escalated the whole brouhaha by giving Humphries a forearm shove; then Jason Terry got in there, followed by Brandon Bass, Paul Pierce, and KG. Before you know it, the entire Boston franchise wanted a piece of Humphries.

”We all back each other,” Garnett said. ”We take a lot of pride in putting on this jersey. I know I do. This ain’t the Girl Scouts or the Boy Scouts. That’s what it is. It’s the NBA. You’ve got to get used to it.”

After the officials were able to restore some order, Humphries, Gerald Wallace, and Rondo were all ejected. The disqualification cost Rondo his double-digit assist streak, as the run ended at 37 which tied the second-longest streak in NBA history.

It’s probably a stretch to call this a brawl because there were more pushing and shoving than actual punches thrown. On a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being compared to the Detroit-Indiana brawl at The Palace in Auburn Hills, this little melee at the TD Garden was more like a 4. Watch the altercation:

Fenerbahce Ulker’s Baris Ermis drives through the Celtics defense in a preseason game in Istanbul. (EUROLEAGUE)

The Boston Celtics’ world tour hit an early snag when Gang Green lost its preseason opener, 97-91, to Turkish pro team Fenerbahce Ulker.

Fenerbahce Ulker, one of Europe’s top club teams, scored 23 points off 25 Boston turnovers and held the Celtics to 18 points in the second quarter. Bo McCalebb, regarded as one of the best point guards in the Euroleague, more than held his own in his head-to-head battle with Boston All-Star guard Rajon Rondo. McCalebb sliced the Celtics defense all game, splitting double teams and creating offense off the drive-and-kick. He finished with 21 points, grabbed four rebounds, and had five assists.

“The reason I played good tonight is not that the game was televised in the States and it was not who was playing against me, Rajon Rondo. When I play against any good player I try to give my best,” said McCalebb, who played college ball at the University of New Orleans. “It’s not personal. And it was a really special night for us after playing a very hard game in the Turkish Cup a day before against Galatasaray Medical Park. We are happy to give our fans a very exciting win.”

McCalebb’s backcourt teammate, Romain Sato, led all scorers with 24 points, including a clutch 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter that sealed the win for the European club. Bojan Bogdanovic (drafted by the Brooklyn Nets) netted 11 points, including three 3-pointers.

Some new faces had decent debuts for the Celtics. Rookie forward Jared Sullinger led the Cs with 16 points and eight rebounds. Forward Jeff Green also had 16 points and looked very comfortable despite missing all of last season due to heart surgery. Jason Terry, wearing No. 4 in Celtic green, scored 12 points off the bench on 4-for-7 shooting. Courtney Lee started the game at shooting guard in place of Avery Bradley.

Turkey pro player Omer Onan with Celtics forward Paul Pierce. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

After trailing 18-8 early, the Celtics went on a 19-8 run — capped by Rondo’s 3-pointer at the buzzer — to take a 27-26 lead. But that lead quickly evaporated as Bojan Bogdanovic (drafted by the Brooklyn Nets) knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to push Fenerbahce ahead. The home team took a 55-45 lead at halftime and never trailed in the second half as Celtics head coach Doc Rivers rested starters Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Rondo. Rondo is already in midseason form, scoring 13 points and dishing out nine assists.

The Celtics have been in Istanbul for a week, and Garnett feels the experience can only help bond the team.

“We are a family in a village, we can look at it like that. When we hit that floor or go outside of these walls, we take care of each other,” said Garnett, now entering his sixth season as a Celtic. “So we’re looking for those kinds of things when we come out of Turkey. Not just being your teammate, but being your brother.”

In five years together in Boston, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen reached the Eastern Conference finals three times and won one NBA title. (GETTY IMAGES)

With 28 seconds left in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Miami Heat had a double-digit lead and the Boston Celtics were running on fumes. Celtics coach Doc Rivers knew it was time to wave the white flag and pull his starters off the court.

‘We had nothing left,” Rivers said. ”That’s how it felt, as a coach . . . But overall, I don’t know if I’ve ever had a group like this.”

There was a lot of emotion on the Celtics’ sideline as Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo headed for the bench. Garnett and Rivers shared a poignant moment as the two men hugged it out while time ticked away on what could be the final time Boston’s Big Three — plus Rondo — will ever wear Celtic green.

In the five-year era of the “Big Four” — or the Fantastic Four, whichever you prefer — the Celtics posted a 69% winning percentage during the regular season, won five Atlantic Division titles, made three trips to the Eastern Conference finals, reached the the NBA Finals twice, and raised one championship banner.

That one NBA title will be the signature moment for the Fantastic Four, but the group also left a lot of titles on the table because of injuries, trades, and one freak elbow injury to Rondo in the 2011 playoffs.

“I wish we had a healthy run. This team won a title, got to another one lost in Game 7 [against the Lakers in 2010] where they had a shot to win. Got to the Eastern Conference final one game away on the road banged up,” Rivers said. “Because of really Kevin’s injury I don’t know if we could have gotten any more out of the group. I would have loved to have seen this team in this whole stretch where Kevin was injury free.”

The injury Rivers was referring to was the knee injury Garnett sustained during the 2008-09 season, which knocked him out of the playoffs and it took KG a full season to completely recover from it.

It is not a certainty that general manager Danny Ainge will break up Boston’s Fantastic Four but, because of age and expiring contracts, it will be very difficult to keep the nucleus of the Celtics with Garnett and Allen becoming unrestricted free agents this summer.

The group knew all season long, especially during the playoffs, Who knows what next season could bring.

Boston battled injuries all season, all the way to the end. Allen said he’ll need surgery soon to repair bone chips in his right ankle. Pierce has been playing through a sprained knee ligament.

It all hurt. Nothing hurt more than the final buzzer Saturday night.

”It’s probably the worst feeling that we feel, in our lives, in our careers,” Allen said. ”There’s nothing you can do about it. There’s one team that wins that last game. We want to be that team every year. We’ve been through a lot. We’ve won a lot of games. At the end of every season, it always feels like it’s it.

”This one hit me hard,” Allen continued. ”We wanted it so bad.”

Allen fought through a painful ankle injury for much of the playoffs while Pierce played through a banged up knee. Garnett, 36, had a resurgence in the playoffs and looks like he’s got a couple of good years left. Rondo and Pierce remain under contract so they’ll be back. There is a strong possibly that Garnett will return to Boston, but Allen seems to be headed into free agency.

The loss of Allen won’t hurt as much because the Celtics have Avery Bradley and Mikael Pietrus to plug in his spot. Losing Garnett, however, would be devastating.

“Well, [Kevin’s] been everything for my career,” Pierce told ESPN Boston. “Just his locker room presence, his desire, his determination, his leadership. I’ve said it before, when Kevin first got here, he really changed the culture of everything we did around here — from the practice habits to on the court, just the discipline. He made everybody accountable, from the ball boys to the chefs to the guy who flew the plane. Everybody was accountable.”

Pierce continued: “It was tremendous to just have him around. The culture he brought — it would be great for me to end my career with Kevin. I have a couple years left, and who knows what his future’s going to bring. Hopefully management can do something to bring him back, maybe add some pieces to this team, that we need, to get over the top. If not, it’s been a tremendous run.”

Celtics guard Rajon Rondo's 44 points wasn't enough to defeat the Heat in Game 2 of the East finals. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

The Detroit Pistons founded the “Jordan Rules” in the late 1980s and early ’90s, while former Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson came up with the “Hack-a-Shaq” more than a decade ago. Now, the Miami Heat are employing the “Rondo Rule” in the 2012 Eastern Conference finals.

On a night when Rajon Rondo carved his name in NBA history, the Boston Celtics head back home two games away from being sent fishing.  Rondo put on a performances for the ages: 44 points, eight rebounds, 10 assists in 53 minutes. But in the end, the Heat won in overtime, 115-111.

As impressive as Rondo’s game was on Wednesday night it is by design. The Heat are banking on the fact that Rondo can’t beat them by himself. He almost did! But at the end of the day the Heat are up 2-0 in their best-of-seven series are in great position to advance to the NBA Finals for the third time in the last seven years.

Miami’s defensive game plan is simple: Make Rondo shoot the ball. Call it the “Rondo Rule.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, who had high praise for the Celtics guard prior to the start of the series, wants his players to eliminate Boston’s ball movement, and one way to curb that is by making Rondo into a scorer. It’s a bit a gamble on Spoelstra’s part because there is the danger of Rondo going off for a career-high 44 points — which he did in Game 2 — but so far the scheme has minimized the impact of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen.

“We tried almost everything with him,” Spoelstra said of Rondo, who scored all 12 of Boston’s points in the overtime period, including back-to-back 3-pointers that made the Heat sweat out the final minute.

” The conventional wisdom of (Rondo’s) gotta beat you with the score, with the jump shot, by not getting all the other guys going. They only had 15 assists, and you wouldn’t think he’d have that kind of monster game,” Spoelstra said.

What Rondo did in Game 2 was mind-boggling given his history of not being able to hit that open jumper when teams sink under the screen. But Rivers said Rondo made the Heat pay time and time again, and he plans to encourage his point guard to keep attacking.

“They were going under (the screens) and I thought what Rondo did was he was going to the elbow and he just took the shots,” Rivers said. “He has to keep doing that, but we have to get more guys involved as well.”

Rondo nearly pulled out the win on his own, but he knows a victory would have been sweeter. “It’s all irrelevant now because we lost,” said Rondo, who showed remarkable stamina by playing the whole game.

“What it speaks to is his competitiveness. He’s a competitor, he’s a basketball player,” Spoelstra said. “Whatever that team needs he’s going to do. Somehow we were able to withstand his incredible game.”

Going into the series, all the Heat talked about was how they must contain Rondo because, as much as the Celtics still rely on the Big Three, the ball is almost in Rondo’s hands almost 90% of the time and the offense clicks when he’s heavily engaged and distributing the ball.

Rivers can’t fault his point guard for taking the majority of the shots, as long as he makes them of course. But Rivers knows he can’t win this series if Rondo is passive so he has to ride the hot hand for as long as he can and hope that the Heat will change their defense and start trapping Rondo, giving more opportunities for KG, Pierce, and Allen.

“[Rondo] was absolutely phenomenal. Put his whole team at times on his shoulders,” Rivers said. “It’s tough to have him play that way and not win the game, honestly. He did basically everything right. We had a lot of opportunities to win the game.

“He was playing at a pretty good pace and we just rode him.”

Rajon Rondo averages 13 points and nearly 10 assists per game against the Miami Heat. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

For the Miami Heat, the key to winning their Eastern Conference finals best-of-seven series against the Boston Celtics is simple: Stop Rajon Rondo.

“Boston creates so many challenges, you can’t key on just one guy. But I think the biggest challenge is Rondo,” Heat forward LeBron James said of Rondo, who had a major hand in two of Boston’s three victories over the Heat during the regular season.

In Boston’s 91-72 blowout win on April 1, Rondo messed around and got a triple-double: 16 points, 11 rebounds, 14 assists. He also shot the ball well in that game, making seven of 13 shots including 1-for-2 from 3-point range. In a 115-107 Boston win at Miami on April 10, Rondo scored 18 points and dished out 15 assists.

And don’t think one second that Miami wasn’t watching Game 7 of the Celtics-Sixers series when Rondo took over in the fourth quarter, knocking down two long jumpers late and scoring nine straight points to advance the Celtics into the conference finals and set up a rematch with the Heat.

“You can make a case that 60 percent of his impact is out of miscellaneous random plays that you can’t necessarily scheme for,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Rondo. “We have to throw the full respect that he deserves, and that’s multiple players multiple schemes. He’s too smart not to get that kind of respect.”

Rondo is averaging 13 points and almost 10 assists against the Heat. This season he led the league in assists with an 11.7 average — the best of his career — and notched his ninth career postseason triple-double.

Count Philadelphia coach Doug Collins in the Rondo fan club. After his team lost Game 7 in Boston, Collins said the Celtics are more than just the Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen.

”I don’t look at them as the Big Three. I look at them as the Championship Four,” the 76ers coach said. ”Because if you’re going to leave Rondo out, you’re making a huge mistake.”

The Heat will not make that mistake in the conference finals.

Tyson Chandler changed the culture in New York with his defense. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

New York Knicks center Tyson Chandler was recently named the 2012 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, breaking Dwight Howard’s three-year stranglehold on the award. Chandler helped improve the Knicks defense significantly and was a big reason why the team earned a playoff berth despite numerous injuries. So why in the world was Chandler on the second team of the all-defensive teams? Much like the do-nothing Congress, the NBA coaches and media couldn’t agree on who belongs on the list of top defenders.

The coaches had LeBron James, Serge Ibaka, Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Tony Allen on the first team. Chandler was included in the second team, along with Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo, Luol Deng and Kobe Bryant. James and Ibaka deserve to be on the first team, but Howard should have swapped places with Chandler. And why is Kobe even on the second team? He’s not even the best defender on his own team.

To settle the debate, OneManFastBreak rates the 10 best defenders during the lockout-shortened 2011-12 season:

SECOND TEAM

10) DWIGHT HOWARD — The Magic center had an up-and-down season on the off the court. He was caught in messy situation with Orlando management with the whole free agency threat, and then he was embroiled in a bizarre incident with head coach Stan Van Gundy. Despite all those distractions, Howard still managed to average a league-best 14.5 rebounds and second-best 2.2 blocked shots.

8) SHAWN MARION — Mavericks owner Mark Cuban thinks The Matrix belongs in the conversation with guys like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Tony Allen in terms of perimeter defense. “There’s nobody who’s better defensively outside the center position than Shawn Marion,” Cuban said. The Dallas owner may be on to something because how many players can guard premier power forwards and point guards? “Marion is the only guy who comes to mind,” said Mavs coach Rick Carlisle.

8) KEVIN GARNETT — The Big Ticket somehow has discovered the Hot Tub Time Machine this season, leading Boston team to a No. 4 seeding in the Eastern Conference playoffs on the strength of his leadership and defense. KG will go down in NBA history as one of its best defenders. He’s just one of a handful of players who can defend all five positions. When you look up energy and effort in the program, you see a picture of Garnett’s face.

Kevin Garnett remains a defensive force for the Celtics. (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

7) TONY ALLEN — The former Celtic and current member of the Memphis Grizzlies earned his reputation as one of the toughest perimeter defenders in the league during the NBA Finals when he went toe-to-toe with Lakers star Kobe Bryant. Allen gets up in your face and doesn’t allow much air space between him and his opponent. He’s also one of the best help defenders in the league, and among the league leaders in steals. Allen can lock down on shooting guards and point guards, and occasionally small forwards.

6) LUOL DENG — The Chicago Bulls owned the best defense in the NBA and a big reason for it was Deng. Coach Tom Thibodeau says the Bulls are able to do what they do on the defensive end because of Deng’s versatility. “Lu can guard small forwards, power forwards, shooting guards,” said Thibodeau. Deng got snubbed last season when he wasn’t even included in the first or second teams. Anyone who still ignores Deng’s defense is looking more and more foolish each season.

FIRST TEAM

5) ANDRE IGUODALA — The Philadelphia 76ers were one of the best teams in terms of field-goal percentage, and a big reason why was Iguodala. The longtime Sixer was seventh in the NBA in steals (1.7) and only Kevin Durant (8.0) and LeBron James (7.9) had a better rebounding average among small forwards. Despite those numbers, Iguodala remains underrated as a top-flight defender because the Sixers are not on national TV each week. But Iggy Hops have convinced the experts after finishing seventh in the Defensive Player of the Year voting.

76ers guard-forward Andre Iguodala can guard any perimeter player (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

4) RAJON RONDO — Rondo is pound for pound the toughest guy in the league. The man came back to a basketball game after dislocating his elbow. Most guys in the league would have been halfway to the hospital if that happened to them. The Celtics remain one of the hardest teams to score on because they have a great backline defender in Garnett and an absolute pest in the frontline in Rondo. He is always among the league leaders in steals, and no point guard in the Association rebounds better than Rondo.

3) LEBRON JAMES — Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra marvels at how LeBron can cover so much ground on the defensive end it almost looks like there are five LeBrons out there. The Heat employ a help defense principle, which dates back to Pat Riley’s days as a Lakers coach. James has turned into the linchpin of the Heat D with his ability to guard every position on the court and, when Spoelstra needs to cool off a hot scorer, he usually calls on James to be the shutdown defender.

2) TYSON CHANDLER — Where would the New York Knicks be without Chandler? Right near the bottom of the league in defense like they’ve been in years past. It was amazing what Chandler did in his first season in Gotham. Not only did he contribute offensively with his league-leading 67% field goal percentage but he changed the culture of the Knicks by quarterbacking the defense from his center position. New York went from being the 22nd-ranked defense to fifth best in 2012.

1) SERGE IBAKA — Serge Ibaka earned the moniker Serge “Iblocka” for his penchant for sending away shots near the rim. The Oklahoma City Thunder power forward had a mind-bloggling 241 blocks (3.7 average) during the regular season which led the NBA by a mile. The next guy was L.A. Clippers center DeAndre Jordan who had a 135.

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

This is just Ibaka’s third season as a professional so the sky — or his case, the rim — is the limit for the man from Brazzaville, Congo. Ibaka finished second to Chandler in the DPOY voting with 294 votes to Chandler’s 311. But you have to wonder if Ibaka was playing in New York and Chandler was in Oklahoma City those votes would be flipped around.

Joel Huerto is the editor and publisher of OneManFastBreak.net. Follow him on Twitter @onemanfastbreak.