Rajon Rondo was reportedly mad at the Los Angeles Clippers following their second defeat against the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs.
Luka Doncic and his 39 points led the Mavs to get a massive win over the Clips. Unfortunately, Kawhi Leonard’s 41 points weren’t enough to overcome their rival and they’re headed to Dallas trailing the Mavs 0-2.
Rondo was anything but happy with this situation. He was heard yelling in the team’s locker room following the game. Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News reported that the point guard was going at it with Tyronn Lue and Serge Ibaka. The latter was firing back at the 2x NBA champion, adds Townsend.
Rondo came off the court ticked off. Looked like he yelled at Ty Lue, now he's yelling at Ibaka, who is yelling back.
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) May 26, 2021
They didn’t look well against the Mavericks. An inspired Doncic turned out to be a handful for them, and Lue couldn’t find the way to stop the Slovenian player.
And of course Luka had to go pay his respects to the 🐐 @swish41 #MFFL
(Photos: @SmileyPool) pic.twitter.com/uD19QzKqlo
— SportsDay Mavs (@dmn_mavericks) May 26, 2021
Luka gets congrats from buddy Patrick Mahomes. pic.twitter.com/0MTc1ZgoFf
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) May 26, 2021
Rondo knows what it takes to win in the NBA, and it is clear that he’s not seeing that from the Clippers. As a result, this situation could be even worse than last year when they blew a 3-1 lead in the second round of the playoffs.
The job will get a lot harder now as they go to Dallas and they need a wake-up call before it’s too late. Townsend covers the Mavericks; he attended the game, so this is privileged info.
The veteran point guard is the leader they need to make the leap this campaign, but if the rest of the team isn’t on the same page, they won’t reach the level they need to win the championship.
They had a series of issues last year, which led to Montrezl Harrell leaving to the Los Angeles Lakers, taking shots at his former team for not delivering.
The next couple of days will be crucial for the Clippers. As Paul George said a couple of weeks ago, it’s championship or bust for them.
