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Rajon Rondo, for as long as he's been in the NBA, has played his best basketball in the playoffs. Not everyone does. Rondo, though, really isn't in the mood to be retrospective and discuss the litany of reasons he's averaged 11.8 points, nine assists and 4.6 rebounds during the regular season the five times he's made the postseason and averaged 14.5 points, 9.2 assists and six rebounds in the playoffs. Rondo, it seems, is one of those players who loves the spotlight. He enjoys the pressure of a playoff series, in which the result of each game feels monumental. Win and it feels like you'll never lose again. Lose and it feels like you'll never win again. Not everyone can handle that type of pressure. Rondo enjoys it.  We're talking about a dude who's never averaged more than 13.7 points a game in his career in the regular season but has averaged 16.9, 15.8, 14.0 and 17.3 in his past four playoff appearances. So, why does Rondo play so much better in the playoffs? "I don't know. It's been a long time, about four years ago, since I was in the playoffs," said Rondo after practice Friday, "It doesn't matter anyway. You're judged on what you do right now." In a lot of ways, he's right. Rondo has lot riding on his performance in the Dallas Mavericks' best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinal playoff series against the Houston Rockets, which begins Saturday night. The Mavs need Rondo to play well on offense and defense to beat the Rockets. Do that and it might be enough to persuade the Mavs' front office to shell out more than $10 million to keep the soon-to-be free agent in Dallas. If not, Rondo needs to at least play well enough to attract enough suitors to find a gig of his choice in free agency so he doesn't have to settle for a short-term deal at low money, by NBA standards. Rondo must be at his tempo-controlling best against the love-to-run Rockets. The good news is Rondo has been playing his best basketball as the playoffs have drawn closer. Maybe he's getting an adrenaline rush like he did on the night he scored 29 points and made 5 of 7 3-point shots in his return to Boston this season. In the past 20 games, Rondo is averaging 9.7 points and 7.1 assists in 29.3 minutes per game. He's shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 70.6 percent from the free throw line. Five times he's had double-digit assists, and eight times he's scored 10 points or more. In his first 26 games with the Mavs, Rondo averaged 8.9 points and 6.2 assists while shooting 40.8 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from the charity stripe. He had double-digit assists just twice. "He's aggressive right now," Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said, "He's doing a great job pushing the ball and getting to the rim. Every game he's getting better. He's keeping the pace and getting everyone involved." And that includes himself. No longer is he a total offensive liability because he can't hit a jumper from the weak side or pose enough of a threat to make opponents respect his ability to hit the jumper off the pick-and-roll. Rondo has made 11 of his past 15 free throws, which wouldn't be a big deal for most folks, but he was so bad at the free throw line earlier this season it affected his game. He wouldn't consistently drive to the basket because he didn't want to wind up at the free throw line, so the Mavs' offense struggled as they essentially played four against five. Rondo has been to the free throw line eight times in the past three games, his highest three-game total since he went to 10 times Dec. 26-30. Rondo's offense and playmaking is an added bonus because the Mavs always seem to find a way to generate offensive with Dirk Nowitzki and Monta Ellis. Where Rondo has really helped is on defense. He communicates, he plays the passing lanes -- and he cares about it. All of the Mavs' defensive metrics have improved since Rondo arrived from Boston in December. He's among the best rebounding guards in the NBA, which means he can start the fast break and help the Mavs get baskets before the defense has a chance to get set up. "The best thing I do is communicate on defense," Rondo said. "I'm always talking. It's like I'm in charge up front and Tyson [Chandler] is in charge down low. It's been working." You could say that about all elements of Rondo's game -- and it's happening at the perfect time.
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