Boston Celtics-Miami Heat NBA Playoffs series unfolding in familiar fashion, but this time Rajon Rondo's healthy

Just like last season, the Boston Celtics enter Game 4 against the Miami Heat down 2-1. One major difference? Rajon Rondo is now healthy and dominant.

BOSTON -- If the Boston Celtics were teenagers, their parents would wake up every time they attempted to sneak out of the house.

The Celtics just don’t go quietly.

But if a 101-91 Game 3 victory against the Miami Heat showed that Doc Rivers’ squad would make all kinds of ruckus on its way out the door, Game 4 provides an opportunity for the Celtics to alter their Eastern Conference Finals series enough so perhaps no exit will be necessary at all.

“We're not satisfied with just one win,” said Rajon Rondo. “They've defended their home court, and in a couple of days we'll do the same.”

The Celtics have arrived at the same location as last season, except last time their 2-1 postseason deficit to the Heat came one round earlier. And last time, Rondo’s arm hung limply from its socket like a piece of spaghetti taped to the ceiling after he dislocated it in a collision during Game 3.

“I don’t think there’s any relevance,” Erik Spoelstra said when asked to compare last year to this one. Despite the similarities -- the way Miami held home court both years and the Celtics responded twice with a dominant win in Game 3 -- Miami’s head coach is easy to believe.

Why?

Rondo’s healthy.

There are dozens of other differences, of course. They include that Kevin Garnett is better than he’s been since the title year, Chris Bosh still hasn’t been cleared for action, Ray Allen is still bothered by his injured ankle (though he looked relatively spry in Game 3) and Mario Chalmers has become a nightly factor.

But if the Celtics have reason to believe that this year is different, that perhaps they can become just the second team in franchise history to overcome a 2-0 series deficit, it begins with the health and prosperity of the little magician who could.

“He’s a heck of a player, man,” Udonis Haslem said of Rondo after the Boston point guard scored 21 points with 10 assists and six rebounds in Game 3.

This time Rondo is healthy, he’s more consistent than ever, and the Heat still have no answer for him. Chalmers obviously can’t slow him down and LeBron James and Dwyane Wade have both tried and failed. Rondo is averaging 27.0 points, 9.0 assists and 7.7 rebounds for the series. On a court that features five definite Hall of Famers and two former MVPs, including the league’s current Most Valuable Player, Rondo is capable of being the best player every night.

Spoelstra has described Rondo during this series as a “basketball maestro,” but he’s also the Miami coach’s biggest headache. The Heat have tried at least three defenders guarding Rondo and he’s burned every one. They tried sagging underneath ball screens and he lit them up for 44 points. They tried switching screens and he continuously found Garnett on the interior. Defending Rondo is becoming more and more like spotting a chameleon. He changes tactics as soon as the defense does.

After Game 3 Rondo was so good that Rivers had only one piece of advice: We need to feed Garnett more often. Other than that, Rivers offered nothing.

As he explained,“Like a pitcher throwing a no hitter, you stay away from that joker. The guy scored 44 points, what can I possibly tell him? I didn't tell him a word.”

For a year the Celtics have wondered: “What if?”

What if Rondo hadn’t crashed to the TD Garden parquet floor? What if he’d been able to play the final games of that series with two arms rather than one? Would they have been able to overcome the 2-0 deficit?

Now the Celtics finally get their chance.

The surrounding cast of faces isn’t entirely the same. The situation is of course different. But the Celtics again trail Miami 2-1 with the fourth game coming at home. And this time, their conductor is healthy.