Rajon Rondo Injury: Doc Rivers Optimistic About Celtics Star’s Game 4 Chances

Rivers added that he hopes to know more about the status of Rondo, Deltone West and Shaquille O’Neal later Sunday:

So don’t count Doc among those who see evidence of a cruel leg sweep in the peculiar thrusting motion Wade made as he went to the floor with Rondo. Rivers also praised his point guard’s toughness in returning to the court despite nearly seeing his entire arm snapped off, no big deal.

Check out the video of his interview below, where Rondo seems completely confused, and unfazed, by his injury. We’re gonna go ahead and assume Rondo is, in fact, an alien (video via Blazers Edge).

It appears the diagnoses didn’t get through to Rondo as he came back for the fourth quarter to play with one arm. And in his post-game interview, he sounded quite confused about the extent of his elbow injury. Speaking right after the game ended, Rondo said, “It’s still broken” in response to a question about how the injury feels. The reported even attempted to clarify, saying “It’s a dislocated elbow,” to which Rondo glossed over it as if the injury was nothing.

With his left arm extended, Rondo’s full weight came down on it, forcing an elbow dislocation. He stayed down in clear pain -- as you can imagine, an elbow dislocation is as painful as it sounds -- while trainers attended to him. A trip to the locker room was in order, and it appeared Rondo’s night was over at least.

After the jump, video of Rondo’s injury. The video is graphic due to the nature of the injury, so be forewarned.

Apparently, Rajon Rondo occupies a rather high rung on the toughness scale: he’s playing in the Celtics’ Game 3 against the Heat with a dislocated elbow.

Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski sums things up pretty well:

The Celtics haven’t exactly struggled without Rondo. When Rondo left the game, Boston led 60-50; since, the Celtics have actually extended their lead, and now have an 11-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter.