Both Rajon Rondo and Deron Williams had tremendous games last night. Arguably, they had the two best games by a point guard all season, and this is in the golden age of point guards.
Deron Williams scored 57 points, and Rajon Rondo had an absolute monster triple-double with 18 points, 20 assists and 17 rebounds. So, which of the two had a better game?
After much consideration I have to give the edge to Rondo.
There are two reasons. First, while Williams had a game that was historic, Rondo's was even more historic.
Deron Williams game was awesome. He scored 57 points—a New Jersey Nets franchise record. However, in the grand scheme of things, it was "only" in a seven-way tie for the 21st highest-scoring game in the last 25 years. It was the highest scoring game since Kobe Bryant dropped 61 on the Knicks February 2, 2009, just over three years ago.
It was impressive but it's once-every-few-years-impressive. Rondo's was once-every-couple-of-decades impressive.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last player to record a triple-double with at least 17 in each category was Magic Johnson, who had 24 points, 17 assists and 17 rebounds on April 18, 1989. The last player to exceed Rondo’s performance in each category was Wilt Chamberlain, who had 22 points, 25 rebounds and 21 assists on Feb. 2, 1968.
Once every few decades trumps once every few years.
The other reason that Rondo trumps Williams is that the Knicks (and I can't believe I'm saying this about a Mike D' Antoni defense) are a much better defense.
In fact, not only is the Knicks defense respectable, it's good. (That just feels weird to type.) They are the sixth-best team in defensive rating. Rondo didn't just shred the Knicks, he shredded a pretty good defense.
Now, there is one qualifier there. Overall, the Knicks defense is good, but they are only 22nd in defending opposing point guards when it comes to efficiency, so that does take some of the luster off of Rondo, but only a smidgen of it. It was still a mind-blogging game.
The bottom line is that Jeremy Lin is a poor defender, but it takes more than a poor defender to account for a performance like that.
Deron Williams dropped 57 points on the Charlotte Bobcats, who are the worst defensive team in the NBA and who give up the most production of any team to opposing point guards. They are truly awful.
It's a close call, and both performances are truly worth watching the replay on NBA.com's League Pass replay, but the Rondo game trumps the Williams day in the end.
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