Rajon Rondo

-- The Times' Mike Bresnahan reports the Lakers and Celtics talked last week about making a trade for Rajon Rondo. But Bresnaahn reports are unwilling to trade Pau Gasol for Rondo. Game stories -- The Times' Bresnahan explains how Kobe Bryant drew up the final paly for Andrew Bynum in the Lakers' 97-94 win Sunday over Boston. -- The Orange County Register's Janis Carr details how the Lakers rallied against the Celtics. -- The Boston Herald's Mark Murphy documents the Celtics' disappearing act late in the game.

It seems as if the loss of one player has staggered the Clippers, leaving them incapable of making up for his injury. The Clippers are 8-10 since Chauncey Billups went down with a season-ending torn left Achilles' tendon on Feb. 6, the 94-85 defeat to the Boston Celtics on Monday night at Staples Center just another loss along the way. Chris Paul has tried to lead the way since Billups got hurt. But when Paul has an off game, as he did against the Celtics, it makes it tougher on the Clippers.

The Celtics' highlight reel after their Game 1 loss to the Lakers, which lacked ample material anyway, was missing a player who's usually good to provide a few neck-turning clips: Rajon Rondo. That's not to say the wiry Boston point guard didn't have decent numbers in the 102-89 loss (13 points, eight assists, six rebounds). But he wasn't able to coordinate the Celtics' offense in his usual ways, in part because of the Lakers' — and especially Kobe Bryant's — defense.

Among the highlights of a conversation with L.A. Times NBA beat writer Mike Bresnahan about the Lakers' 97-94 victory Sunday over the Boston Celtics and what the front office might do before the trade deadline: Bresnahan has reported that the Lakers don't plan to trade Pau Gasolunless it is for a young guard. He reported in The Times Monday morning that the Lakers had declined dealing him to Boston for Rajon Rondo. Bresnahan believes Gasol will remain in a Laker uniform through the season.

Two years ago, Rajon Rondo was the Boston Celtics' question mark as they headed into a Finals showdown with the Lakers. It trailed him as speculators wondered whether the second-year point guard was too green and erratic at 22 to lead veterans against veterans for an NBA title. But 24 months later, Rondo has become the Celtics' exclamation point, one of the NBA's top point guards, and now casts his own shadow, which is growing with every magazine cover he graces and highlight reel he owns.

Rajon Rondo scored 25 points, including a buzzer-beating layup after catching Paul Pierce's lob at the end of regulation, and the Boston Celtics got a 112-106 overtime win over the Miami Heat on Wednesday. Ray Allen scored 22 points for Boston, which trailed by 11 midway through the fourth quarter . Miami's Dwyane Wade finished with a season-high 44 points and had a steal and dunk that gave Miami a two-point lead with 0.6 seconds remaining in regulation. Rondo's basket with 34.3 seconds left in overtime sealed it for the Celtics.

Boston 114, at Toronto 107: Rajon Rondo had 22 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for his first triple-double of the season, Rasheed Wallace scored a season-high 29 points and the Celtics beat Toronto for their seventh straight win over the Raptors. Toronto's Chris Bosh fouled out with 31 points and 13 rebounds. Cleveland 106, at Portland 94: LeBron James had 41 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers held off a fourth-quarter rally by the Trail Blazers. Shaquille O'Neal had 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Mike Dunleavy, former coach and general manager of the Clippers, is The Times' guest analyst on the NBA Finals. Dunleavy has coached four NBA teams -- the Clippers, Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks and Portland Trail Blazers. He was NBA coach of the year in 1999 with Portland. The Lakers dozed off on Boston's backcourt Sunday, and the Celtics guards made them pay for that mistake. Ray Allen set a Finals record with eight three-pointers, but Rajon Rondo was the show. His ability to rebound and get the Celtics into the open court kept the Lakers back on their heels.

at Boston 107, Miami 102: Rajon Rondo had 22 points and 14 assists and the Celtics won their second straight game after losing three in a row. Dwyane Wade had 30 points and 13 assists for the Heat. Phoenix 109, at Denver 97: Amare Stoudemire had 20 points and 17 rebounds and the Suns ended the Nuggets' nine-game home winning streak. at Toronto 108, New Jersey 99: The Raptors topped 100 points for the 15th consecutive game and the Nets fell to 4-44, still on pace for the worst record in NBA history.

Reporting from Boston -- Paul Pierce snatched the lofted pass of desperation and then danced along the sideline's edge, one wrong step from a costly turnover. Derek Fisher flopped and flailed beside him, which wasn't helping. And in a crucial instant, with the clock inside of a minute and his team up only five points, Pierce's instincts took over. Off-balance though he was, a green blur racing downcourt caught his vision, and Pierce fired. The pass was perfect, catching Rajon Rondo in stride, and Rondo sailed in for an easy layup, the dagger in Boston's 92-86 win in Sunday's Game 5. "I was just showing off my Randy Moss and my Tom Brady in one play, that's all," Pierce said.

-- The Times' Mike Bresnahan reports the Lakers and Celtics talked last week about making a trade for Rajon Rondo. But Bresnaahn reports are unwilling to trade Pau Gasol for Rondo. Game stories -- The Times' Bresnahan explains how Kobe Bryant drew up the final paly for Andrew Bynum in the Lakers' 97-94 win Sunday over Boston. -- The Orange County Register's Janis Carr details how the Lakers rallied against the Celtics. -- The Boston Herald's Mark Murphy documents the Celtics' disappearing act late in the game.

When: 7:30. Where: Staples Center. On the air: TV: Prime Ticket, ESPN; Radio: 980, 1330. Records: Clippers 23-15, Celtics 21-19. Update: The Celtics started their eight-game trip with a loss to the Lakers on Sunday, falling 97-94 after blowing a late lead. Boston has five players scoring in double figures, led by Paul Pierce (18.4 a game). Dynamic point guard Rajon Rondo ranks second in the NBA in assists (10.0 a game). Keep an eye on the glass: The Celtics rank last in the NBA in rebounds, averaging 38.9 a game, and the Clippers are tied for 11th, grabbing 42.9.

It ended in frustration, without a hint of sentimentality. Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen walked off the Staples Center court for what could be the last time as a group Sunday, their heavy-heartedness confined to the way the final few minutes unfolded for the Boston Celtics. They lost a five-point lead in the final 2 minutes 16 seconds and were pestered into a pair of desperation shots in the final moments of a 97-94 loss to the hated Lakers. "Sometimes that's the way it goes," Pierce said.

The Lakers and Boston Celtics hate each other, an animosity that extends into the front offices of the two teams. ... Not really. The teams talked last week about a trade for Celtics guard Rajon Rondo , though nothing was close to accomplished and discussions dried up. The Lakers are unwilling to trade Pau Gasol for Rondo, making a deal with Boston unlikely before the trade deadline Thursday. "Unless they give up Gasol, they're not going to get a top-level point guard," said a person familiar with the situation but not authorized to discuss it publicly.

Ready or not, we'll take that torch, Gramps. Grizzled, battered, headed for the junk heap of NBA history, the Lakers and Boston Celtics just left us forever.... or until training camp, whichever comes first. By then they'll be totally different, or would be if not for nuances like guarantees, contracts and the salary cap. "You can't blow this team up," Jerry West said of the Lakers to Dan Patrick. "Nobody wants very many of their players, to be honest. " NBA owners actually demanded the right to blow their rosters up in the new labor deal but dropped it in the recent peace offensive.

Bad day in Lakerdom/Celtic Nation. Today, Lakers and Celtics fans are one. Yeah, right. As if we share anything with rage-displacing lowlifes within two degrees of separation from Archie Bunker . . . or front-running poseurs paying $200 for valet parking in the hope of being mistaken for Jack Nicholson? I mean it as President Danny Glover did in the movie "2012," somberly informing Americans the world was ending: "Today, none of us are strangers.

Former Celtics forward Kevin McHale won three NBA championships with Boston, where he played for 13 seasons. He will be an analyst for NBA TV during the Finals. He famously delivered a hard foul to the Lakers' Kurt Rambis in Game 4 of the 1984 Finals. After McHale flung Rambis to the floor, Boston came back to win the game in overtime and the series in seven games. McHale's preview of the Finals, as told to Times staff writer Diane Pucin: The Celtics will win if Rajon Rondo can put pace in the game and attack Derek Fisher, especially in the fast break or in any kind of odd-man situation.

Team USA is down to its final 12 players for the World Championships, for better or worse. Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo asked to leave the team Tuesday, according to a Team USA news release, though earlier Rondo said he was on the "bubble" to make the squad. That left Lakers forward Lamar Odom, Clippers guard Eric Gordon and 10 other players on their own for the tournament that starts Saturday in Turkey. Team USA wasn't exactly a world-beater in two exhibitions last weekend, struggling most of three quarters before beating Lithuania, 77-61, and then barely fending off Spain, 86-85, which played without Pau Gasol.

BOSTON AT MIAMI: Sunday at 12:30 p.m. PDT. TV: Channel 7. At this point, you can't tell who might mail in games, unless you're talking about the Lakers, who just mailed in last week. The Celtics are back in we're-preserving-our-players mode … which is what they always say when the losses mount. Nevertheless, this is tantamount to a playoff game, all but settling No. 2 in the East … and home court if they meet in the second round, as expected. It will be interesting to see whether Shaquille O'Neal plays, having pulled a calf muscle a week ago after a two-month absence with an Achilles' tendon strain.

Down but not quite out Looks as if the Miami Heat worked out its issues with big teams, last shots and being crybabies, huh? Of course, when someone goes up, someone goes down... Meet the Boston Celtics! After losing at home to the Clippers last week, Boston Coach Doc Rivers noted, "No one cried, we're OK. " By the time they lost back to back to the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, Doc had cranked the spin up so high, press people were toppling over.