11/14/12: Celtics vs. Jazz Stat Pack

*On Monday night against the Chicago Bulls, @LucidSportsFan pointed out to me that Rajon Rondo led the Celtics in points (20), rebounds (9), assists (10) and steals (5) without any ties, so I took a look at how often Rondo has achieved this feat in his NBA career.
–In Rondo’s 536 combined regular season and postseason games, only twice (including Monday) has he led the Celtics in those 4 statistical categories without any ties in the same game.
–The other game: Game 6 of the 2009 Eastern Conference Finals (83-75 Magic victory over the Celtics) – Rondo had 19 points, 16 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals
–What this means to me: We all knew that this was Rondo’s team, but now he is showing it statistically. I would guess that we will see more of these such games from him in the 2012-13 season.

*Rajon Rondo was very close to his 24^th career (regular season and playoffs) triple-double. He still has 23 career triple-doubles, 18 of which have happened on national television.

*The Celtics now have a 3-1 road record and 1-2 home road. While it is early in the season, I thought it would be fun to find the times when the Celtics finished a season with a better winning percentage on the road than at home.
–There are only 2 instances in the Celtics’ first 66 seasons that they finished the season with a better road winning percentage than home winning percentage:
1. 1974-75: 28-13 at home … 32-9 on road … Celtics lost in Eastern Conference Finals
2. 2009-10: 24-17 at home … 26-15 on road … Celtics lost in NBA Finals

*The Celtics are attempting for their first 3-game winning streak of the season. The team’s last such streak was their 3 straight wins over the Miami Heat in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals.

*Both the Celtics (4-3) and Jazz (4-4) are 3-0 this season when leading at the end of the 3^rd Quarter and 1-3 when behind at the end of the 3^rd Quarter (Utah’s other loss: tied at end of the 3^rd Quarter).
–The Celtics are 2-0 this season when ahead at halftime.
–Last season, the Celtics were the last NBA team to lose a game with a halftime lead. They started the 2011-12 season 10-0 when leading at halftime. It took the Celtics until their 25^th game last season (88-87 loss to Lakers) to end the streak.

*Oddly, the Celtics have fared worse on the first night of back-to-backs this season than they have on the second night. Tonight, they begin their third back-to-back of the season and all three will have begun at home and ended on the road.
–First night of back-to-backs: 0-2 (both at home)
–Second night of back-to-backs: 2-0 (both on road)

*Milestone Watch:

–All-Time Offensive Rebounds–
22. Elton Brand 3,050
23. Shawn Kemp 3,026
24. Kevin Garnett 3,017            (Garnett needs 10 to move into 23^rd place)