LOS ANGELES -- Rajon Rondo turned his ankle early in the third quarter leading a fast break and had to leave the game. He went to the locker room and had the ankle retaped. After Eddie House did a solid job stepping in for him, Rondo returned to the game and played 3:34 in the fourth quarter.

“I don’t know if I stepped on someone’s foot or not. I rolled it,” Rondo said of his ankle.

Rondo scored six of his eight points in the first quarter, but was limited to only four assists after piling up 16 in Game Two. He says the inability of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to get going offensively hurt his numbers in that department, “but they’re going to play bad sometimes. Other guys have to step up. It came down to defense. We couldn’t get some stops when we needed them,” he said.

Garnett admitted he ``had a pretty awful game’’ after shooting 6 of 21 from the floor. He did pile up 12 rebounds and pass for five assists.

“I think at times myself, [I was] hyped about the game, composure. I don’t make any kind of excuses for bad games. I think for the most part, shooting-wise, I had a pretty awful game. But as far as energy and grabbing rebounds and trying to block some shots, I thought I was active. But for the most part, it’s not a perfect game.”