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Rajon Rondo’s bounce-back game shows his importance to Lakers

On Sunday night, Rajon Rondo had a bounce-back game, one that caused his teammates and coaches to gush about his impact.

On Sunday night, had a bounce-back game, one that caused his teammates and coaches to gush about his impact. Whereas Rondo was mostly a liability in a Game 1 loss to the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference semifinals, he was instrumental in the Lakers' win in Game 2. His plus/minus rating was the highest on the team at plus-28. He finished with 10 points, nine assists, five steals and three rebounds.

“He was just extremely aggressive, not only offensively but defensively — taking the challenge on James [Harden], taking the challenge on whoever he was guarding,” Lakers forward LeBron James said. “Just trying to lead. I mean, that's what ‘Do is. He's a leader. And for us to have him back in the postseason, it's a key for our team.”

When Rondo, 34, returned for Game 1 of the Lakers' series against the Rockets, it was the first basketball game he had played in almost six months — the COVID-19 hiatus accounted for four of those months, and then he broke his right thumb July 12 just as the Lakers were getting started in the bubble. Rondo left the bubble shortly thereafter to have surgery.

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