Oh hi Rajon Rondo

With all due respect to Deron Williams and Chris Paul, who are better players and more well-rounded, I would still say that Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo is as important to his team as those two superstars or anybody in the NBA outside of maybe Kobe Bryant (ever hear of him?).

Without Rondo, the Celtics are an old bunch of guys whose best years are behind them. With him, they're the best team in the Eastern Conference and the biggest threat to break the Lakers' two year reign at the top.

Thankfully, Rondo's latest absence was only three games to nurse a minor hamstring injury. He was back with a vengeance last night as the Celts (12-4) beat the Toronto Raptors (6-10) 110-101 at the TD Garden.

After the Bruins' no-show in the afternoon, the Cs took care of business against a team that they lost to last Sunday (Rondo's first game out).

Rondo was a tad erratic with eight turnovers but he still put up 14 assists in 36 minutes. Kevin Garnett was the man with 26 points (3 alley-oops) and 11 rebounds. Paul Pierce and Glen Davis scored 18, Ray Allen added 17 and Shaquille O'Neal continues to prove the haters wrong with 16 points and nine rebounds (albeit against a team with no inside presence).

At one point, Toronto used a lineup with five foreign guys so clearly they love to shoot the 3-pointer. Linas Kleiza led the way with 18 points, Leandro Barbosa added 14 points, Peja Stojakovic scored 13, Jose Calderon had 12 points and 15 assists while Andrea Bargnani and Amir Johnson each had 11 points (a far cry from their win vs. Boston in Toronto).

Boston jumped out to a 30-21 lead after the first quarter but Toronto closed it to 58-52 at halftime. The Cs seemingly put it away in the third quarter (28-15) but as usual they got bored with closing it out (34-24 fourth quarter for Raptors) until the bitter end.

As a team, the Celtics shot 53.9% to Toronto's 45.1%. The Raptors made three more 3-pointers (7-4) but the Cs made four more free throws (24-20). Toronto had nine more rebounds (44-35) which is unexplainable but Boston made up for it with seven more assists (33-27), four more steals (6-2), six more blocks (8-2) and six less turnovers (17-11).

Boston needs to clean some things up if they hope to win in Cleveland on Tuesday. The Cavs are not very good but they beat the Celts in the second game of the season.

Hope you guys had fun at the Saints parade

With Chris Paul, the NBA's best point guard, the New Orleans Hornets are still a fringe playoff team in the loaded Western Conference. Without him, they're not very good at all but don't tell that to the Celtics, who made them look like world-beaters last night in still drunk New Orleans.

Whatever the excuse: last game before the All-Star break, the players went to the Saints parade and weren't focused, we're aging faster than low-level porn stars, there's no reason that the C's (32-18) should have choked away a 12-point halftime lead and lost to the Hornets (28-25), 93-85.

How bad was it? Morris Peterson had a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds. Rookie point guard Darren Collison dominated (despite 10 turnovers) with 25 points, nine assists and four steals while Peja Stojakovic added 20 points, David West had 15 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Darius Songaila notched 12 points off the bench.

The only four Celtics that came to play were Marquis Daniels (14 points), Tony Allen (13 points, starting for Ray Allen who sat out with back spasms), Rasheed Wallace (13 points) and Glen Davis (9 points in his return home).

Boston head coach Doc Rivers made the puzzling decision to play Paul Pierce despite the fact that he's banged up and clearly needs some rest. Pierce rewarded that terrible move with 15 points and eight turnovers. And even better news is that he wants to compete in the All-Star game this weekend in Dallas. Obviously, you don't expend much energy in an All-Star game but what's the point? It's not like it's in Boston or he's never made one before.

Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett simultaneously had their worst games of the season as they both only scored seven points. Is Kendrick Perkins still alive? Yeah? Does he still play for the C's? The guy that has been masquerading as him lately has been a joke and last night was exhibit A as Perk had three points and seven rebounds against Emeka Okafor, who is terrible in the NBA.

New Orleans was up 29-27 after the first quarter but Boston doubled them up 28-14 in the second quarter to take a 55-43 halftime lead. I don't know what it is but they could not play any worse in the third quarter these days if they tried. I don't know if they're doing shots in the locker room, having some strippers come in or what but they are lifeless in third quarters.

True to form, the Hornets blew them out 29-12 in the third quarter and 21-18 in the fourth.

Rondo, Garnett and Pierce travelled to Dallas after the game and the rest of the team might as well walk home. They start an exceptionally tough four game West Coast trip next week starting with the Kings on Tuesday night. The Celtics need a break and I also would like a respite from this garbage.

Gino says: free lines of Coke for everybody!

This is going to sound ridiculous but the NBA playoffs can't come soon enough.

Sure I will devote much of my life over the next six months watching mostly meaningless regular season games but believe me when I tell you that the Boston Celtics are ready to play the games that matter right now.

None of the players, coaches or people that work for the team will ever speak the truth like that but they're about as flawless a team as you'll find in the Association.

The Celts improved to 4-0 with last night's 97-87 win over the New Orleans Hornets at the TD Garden.

After going to the Bobcats and Bulls games against the C's last week, all I can say is that it's hard to believe how cohesive this group seems to be. Granted, this can all change at any time if KG, Rajon Rondo or Paul Pierce go down with a serious injury. Still, this team is deeper than the one that won a championship two seasons ago. Yup I said it.

Pierce, who is still one of the NBA's most underrated superstars, scored a game-high 27 points as Boston was challenged for the first time in three games.

Ray Allen added 17 points, Garnett had 14 points, seven boards and five assists while Rondo notched 10 assists and three steals. Rasheed Wallace continued to deliver the goods off the bench as he had 12 points.

Chris Paul is one of the NBA's best point guards and most exciting players to watch period. Unfortunately, with the Hornets (1-3) he does not have too much talent around him, forcing him to play out of his mind virtually every night to give them a chance to be decent.

Paul had 22 points and eight assists last night but he was clearly frustrated at his scrub teammates and it boiled over after the game as he had a bizarre confrontation with Rondo. 95-year-old Peja Stojakovic had his stroke going as he scored 26 points but David West (10 points) was the only other Hornet in double figures.

Boston has a day off before an absurd four game in five nights stretch, really David Stern? They'll play in Philly tomorrow night against the Sixers, probably their biggest Atlantic Division competition (try not to laugh, HAHA).