On Tuesday night, the Boston Celtics lost 87-86 in Game Five of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals to the Atlanta Hawks.
The Celtics had their opportunities to close the series out, but couldn't get consistent play. Rajon Rondo was a microcosm of that, brilliant at times and invisible at others.
Jeff Clark of SB Nation's Celtics Blog has a good take:
Rondo was very passive for the first half but found some kind of spark to rally the team back in the 3rd quarter. Oddly, his steal in the final seconds gave the Celtics a chance to win it, but his turnover (or whatever you call it when you fumble the ball and the buzzer sounds) in the subsequent possession sealed the deal for Atlanta.
However, Boston is still sitting pretty with a 3-2 series lead heading home to a raucous crowd at the TD Garden.
It won't be an easy task, but then again the playoffs rarely are.
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