Rondo's game does talkin' for Celtics after D'Antoni's diss

Mike D'Antoni opened his yap, put his foot in and then tried to make nice. After taking a pre-game dig at Rajon Rondo -- the guy D'Antoni's Suns drafted and then traded in 2007 -- the Knicks coach immediately began praising the Celtics point guard.

"Well, I'd like to see him play in Minnesota and see how he does," D'Antoni said, offering that Rondo is a product of his Boston environment with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.

"Everybody's tied together. They have three Hall of Famers out there. Now Rondo's a very, very good basket ball player. Really good . . ."

After the game, D'Antoni's comments were put to Rondo.

"I don't have any opinion," the point guard said.

His teammates?

"I'm not answering that," Pierce said.

He had a great feel for the team, which is great. Just like I said of [Jason] Varitek, he's really calling a great game for us," said coach Doc Rivers, who took the high road when asked if he was curious how Rondo would do elsewhere. "I'm more curious about getting four [wins]. I don't think a whole bunch about that . . . if there is a negative side I guess that would be it. That no matter how well you play, the question will be [there] and someday that will be answered."