Lakers bring out the best in Rondo

— -- BOSTON -- Rajon Rondo has been searching for a cure to an early season funk, and it might have been as simple as some orange juice and toast.

By now you've seen the photos of Rondo and Kobe Bryant's breakfast on Thursday at The Paramount in Beacon Hill. The two players reaffirmed their mutual admiration for one another on Friday while detailing the confab. Rondo playfully downplayed the gathering by suggesting it was "just two a--holes having breakfast."

Rondo explained how the two players talked about everything from their glory days of competing in the 2008 and 2010 NBA Finals, to these gory days of navigating an unforgiving rebuilding process.

But you get the sense that Rondo stood up after the breakfast, bid his rival companion a fond farewell and thought to himself, "Man, I can't wait to kick his a-- on Friday night."

An ultra-aggressive Rondo, maybe feeding a bit off seeing those gold Lakers jerseys on the opposite side, handed out 16 assists -- two more than the entire Lakers team -- and turned the ball over just once while finishing at plus-40 in plus/minus over 31 ½ minutes of floor time while guiding Boston to a 113-96 triumph over the Lakers at TD Garden.

Rondo, who has often sacrificed his own offense this season while trying to create for his teammates, took a more aggressive approach against the Lakers. He put up a season-high 17 shots and made six, finishing with 12 points. Rondo didn't always attack the basket, but he shot from the perimeter with confidence.

Closing out his six-minute chat with reporters after Friday's game, Rondo was asked if playing the Lakers still felt special despite the rebuilding process that each team is navigating.

"Yes, it's special," said Rondo. "They stole the last championship from me [in 2010], so every time we play them, I want to kick their butt."

Cross that off the to-do list. Rondo's numbers were extra glossy on this night; just look at his ratings (points forced/allowed per 100 possessions). Boston's offensive rating was 122.4 with Rondo on the court, and the defensive mark stood at 71.8. That's a staggering plus-50.6 net differential. Not bad for a player whose ratings were far less impressive entering the game (101.9 offensive; 107.4 defensive; minus-5.5 net).

Celtics coach Brad Stevens said he talked briefly with Rondo following the team's morning shootaround and reminded him to be aggressive, but downplayed his role in getting Rondo on track.

"I jog on the treadmill and he's standing around. [I say,] 'Hey Rondo! This is what we need to talk about. OK, see you later,'" Stevens detailed to laugher before joking, "Hold on, was I supposed to say something smarter than that?

"We met for a few minutes this morning after shootaround and I had a couple of thoughts that are real brain surgery to share with him. But the main one was that I felt like he was waiting for the game to materialize around him more than just attacking the game, and so it was really good. I thought he attacked great tonight. And every time he shot it, I was like a fan saying, 'Go in!' So he hit the two at the end and I was going to keep running stuff so he could get that rhythm and feel good about himself and shoot it in and I'm glad he did that. He really played aggressive, and sometimes even though he didn't make every shot, it sets the tone for how your team plays and it puts you in an attacking mindset."

Even Rondo seemed to marvel after the game at how he was able to generate a big assist total while still putting up a season high in shot attempts.

As important as it was for Rondo to see some shots go in, it was his playmaking wizardry that shone brightest. Rondo did everything he could to get the ball to Tyler Zeller when Zeller was running toward the hoop, and the third-year center responded with a career-high 24 points on 10-of-11 shooting with 14 rebounds over 31 minutes. Zeller nearly matched Rondo's impact, finishing at plus-39 overall.

"[Zeller] has great hands, he outruns his big every night on the floor and I try to reward him every time I get the chance," said Rondo. "His hand-and-eye coordination is great, so I try to find him and get him the ball."

The challenge for Rondo now is maintaining that aggressiveness, particularly when he doesn't have someone like Bryant and the Lakers to add a dash of motivation.

And that's why it's imperative for Stevens to continue to encourage his point guard.

"After shootaround, Brad called me up," said Rondo. "He was upstairs on the treadmill running and he had a couple key pointers for me, I went down the steps and he was coming back up again," said Rondo. "We have great conversations, we have great dialogue. Our communication is great, we talk pretty much every day. He'll call me on off days. I might give him a buzz every once in a while. No, I'm just kidding. We talk a lot. Even when we're struggling, we always have communication. I'm the coach out there on the floor and he's our coach, we always have to be on the same page."

Even when he has struggled, Rondo has remained optimistic and expressed a desire to work through his struggles. He didn't get to the free throw line on Friday and that remains a lingering issue.

But Friday's game was a reminder of how impactful Rondo can be. When the Celtics cranked up to another level in the second half and started pulling away from the Lakers, it felt like a (very, very, very) stripped-down version of Game 6 of the 2010 Finals (it doesn't seem fair to compare a championship-clinching game to a matchup of five-win teams).

But fans conditioned to expect fourth-quarter meltdowns roared when the popular Gino Time clip ran and danced in the stands while celebrating a lopsided win over a rival. The Celtics matched a season-high two-game winning streak with the victory. There's hope that, if this version of Rondo appears on a regular basis, the Celtics are capable of more than what we saw in November.

It's a reminder of how good this team can be when Rondo brings his A-game.