Back in December I introduced you to Rajon Rondo, the point guard for the Boston Celtics.

A guard from the University of Kentucky, the 6′1″, 171 lbs Rondo is only 2+ years into his NBA campaign and already has a championship ring with the Boston Celtics. His success has been attributed to having the likes of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and NBA Finals MVP, Paul Pierce as teammates, but there’s more to it. Rondo is much more than his stats (and they are good stats); He is the engine that drives almost every play the Celtics run. Watching Boston’s offense you’ll see everything starts with Rondo.

Since then the Celtics have gone on to another 50+ win season and are in the middle of one of the most exciting first round playoff series I’ve seen since I started watching the NBA in ’87. And with Kevin Garnett out for the entire series one little guy has stepped it up to help the Celtics make their push for a consecutive championship. Of course, it’s Rondo. Here’s his averages for the series so far:

24.2 pts, 10.2 assists, 10.2 rebs on 51% shooting from the field, 72% from the line and 54% from the 3-pt line. Compare that with his season averages: 11 pts, 5 assists, 4 rebs with percentages of 50%, 64% and 31% from the field, line and 3-pt line respectively. If he keeps it up he’ll be only the second player to average a triple-double in the first round, next to the great Oscar Robertson.

With all the buzz about the potential (and probable) finals match-up between Kobe and LeBron it’s nice to see the next class of superstars, like Rondo (see also: Brandon Roy, Derrick Rose, Thaddeus Young) get theirs.