The Rockets has a 3-0 lead in the first-round series prior to Dallas Mavericks loss on Tuesday night. In addition, point guard Rajon Rondo will not return to Dallas next season and forward, Chandler Parsons is out for the rest of the playoffs with a right knee injury that will require surgery.
The Dallas coach tried to dodge a question about the timing of the Rondo announcement before giving the much more direct answer about the 29-year-old guard's future in Dallas.
Rondo is a typical point guard and had 10 playoff triple-doubles with the Celtics, who won the title in 2008 and went the NBA Finals again two years later. The Mavericks gambled that they were getting the player Rondo was before missing large parts of two seasons because of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
Rondo was acquired in exchange for point guard Jameer Nelson, center Brandan Wright and forward Jae Crowder to Boston. Rondo seems to be a bad fit for Dallas. The Mavericks are being among the league's best at the time of the trade in terms of offense. Rondo also missed six games because of a broken bone near his left eye.
Rondo sat for all but the first 34 seconds in the second half in game 2. He was pulled after quickly picking up his third and fourth fouls guarding James Harden, and getting a technical after one of the calls. While Rick Carlisle could have hidden behind foul trouble as the reason for yet another ineffective game, the coach changed everything by leaving Rondo on the bench for good.
The two quick fouls were puzzling, but paled compared to Rondo inexplicably getting called for an eight-second backcourt violation while walking the ball up the court in the first half. His poor defense right after the call led to an easy 3-pointer for Jason Terry.
Carlisle still didn't go back to Rondo early in the fourth quarter in game 2 despite Dallas leads over Houston. J.J. Barea, who scored 13 points, and seldom-used Raymond Felton were his choices.
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