The Return of Playoff Rondo: How Rajon Rondo dissected the Houston Rockets in Game 3

If you’re a Lakers fan, you’ve very likely heard the following phrase, particularly after another head-scratching regular season play from Rajon Rondo: “Just wait for the playoffs, and ‘playoff Rondo.’”

Well the wait is over.

After a good Game 2, “Playoff Rondo” delivered a masterclass performance in Game 3 vs. the Houston Rockets, providing a key spark over the course of the contest, and taking over for a critical stretch to help the team pull away in the fourth quarter on Tuesday.

In my latest following video, I detailed how Rondo dissected this Rockets team in multiple ways throughout the course of Game 3:

So there you have it. From his passing prowess that saw him sync up with Anthony Davis multiple times and find LeBron James on the weakside seal, all while timing his pass immaculately on other occasions, to finding his shooting stroke from distance to making some very heads-up defensive reads and plays, Playoff Rondo showed up and absolutely showed out to give the Lakers a 2-1 series lead in the Western Conference Semifinals.

Only time will tell if this level of play is sustainable, but even 80% of what we saw in Game 3 would be a spectacular boon to the Lakers’ title chances.

Dr. Rajpal Brar has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University, and runs his own sports medicine and performance business, 3CB Performance, in West LA and Valencia, CA. He also works at a hospital — giving him experience with patients in the immediate healthcare setting and neurological patients (post stroke, post brain injury) — and has been practicing for 1.5 years. Brar is additionally training at UCLA’s mindful awareness research center (MARC), and analyzes the Lakers from a medical perspective for Silver Screen and Roll and Laker Film Room. You can follow him on Twitter at @3cbPerformance.