Three Stars of the Night: Go-Go Goran and a Game-Winner

We had a pretty good slate of games on Thursday night, didn’t we?

The Knicks grinded out a combined 14-for-44 showing from Carmelo Anthony and J.R. Smith for a tough win against the Celtics, the Raptors had a little late game magic of their own against Orlando, and in the nightcap, the Suns stayed undefeated in the Lindsey Hunter era by upsetting the Clippers. We’re all about synergy, so we have stars for three games. To the stars:

Third Star: Rajon Rondo - (23 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists)

If Paul Pierce could catch the ball he may be a little higher, but so it goes. Rondo’s triple-double performance was pretty impressive, and his deadly mid-range jumper kept the Celtics alive late in the game. It’s a common misconception that Rondo “can’t shoot” but he’s actually just limited to where he can shoot. Rondo shoots over 50 percent from 16-23 feet, living on little pull-up jumpers from the elbow. If there’s a criticism of Rondo’s game this year (and there always is), it’s that he hasn’t been aggressive enough in going to the rim. There’s some weight to that — Rondo has barely shot more attempts at the basket than from 16-23 feet, but against the Knicks, he took it right to the rack with more frequency. Although his fourth triple-double this season wasn’t enough wasn’t enough, it’s hard to point the finger at Rondo for Boston’s failures this season.

Second Star: Goran Dragic - (24 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds)

With no Chris Paul to worry about, Dragic was masterful on the offensive end, often securing switches in the pick and roll and then blowing right by a big ill-equipped to stay in front of him. Dragic’s 19 point first half made the upset seem attainable for the Suns, and the momentum kept rolling after that. When Dragic is aggressive and looks to turn the corner, he’s capable of big scoring nights. You can count the good defensive performances the Suns have had on one hand this year, but defense often led to offense, and Dragic was the generator of most of the positive action all night. Dragic and the Suns are playing like they’ve started a new season (not like the Lakers, like an actual new season), and it’s hard not to feel good that they were rewarded with a win. They very clearly played harder than the Clippers did, but it was Dragic’s skill that made sure the effort wasn’t in vain.

First Star: DeMar DeRozan - (22 points, 7 assists, game-winning shot)

What a fourth quarter for DeRozan. After a lackluster performance through three periods, DeRozan started to get his jumper to fall in the final frame, and it led to a 14-point fourth quarter when the Raptors needed it most. Tying his career-high in assists (yes, it’s 7) was a nice bonus, but DeRozan’s spot as the top star was secured in a tie game with just four seconds on the clock. Witness: