Paul Pierce and the Celtics will have to be on top of their game if they want to defeat Sasha Pavlovic and the Cavaliers in Cleveland and win their first road playoff game tonight.

The Providence Journal / Glenn Osmundson

Let’s call Rajon Rondo’s postseason experience “The Education of a Playoff Point Guard.”

The second-year pro might have turned in his best game Wednesday night when he logged 42 minutes, the team high, scored 20 points, made 9 of his 15 shots, took three 3-pointers and buried two and passed for 13 assists and turned the ball over only once. He also blocked two shots and made two steals.

LeBron James offered high praise when he said Rondo “was definitely the X factor … Without Rondo it would have been a much tougher game for them to win. He was definitely the player of the game.”

Doc Rivers suggested that Rondo is getting it when it comes to playoff basketball.

“I think he’s understanding now the sense or urgency of every possession and how hard it is. When these young guys understand that, they get into it. I think Rondo is finding that out,” Rivers said.

The Celtics coach recalled a point late in the third quarter when Rondo was bent over and grabbing his shorts.

“I was telling him to pressure the ball, and you could see he almost wanted to say, “My gosh, do I have to?’ He goes through stretches when he stops pressuring, and with his speed he has to keep doing that, and he did it the entire game,” Rivers said.

“You look at the intensity on his face, and I was sitting there thinking he’s right now learned to feel and understand it’s hard. He’s handled it very well, and I’m happy for him.”

Rondo’s primary responsibility is to get the ball to Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen. Shooting is secondary and 3-point shooting a bonus.

“That’s gravy,” Rivers said. “Obviously, if they’re going to leave him open, I want him to shoot it. What I don’t want him to do is look for them. I want him to look and make plays. I thought the two threes he took [Wednesday] night, the ball found him behind the line, he was set, he was comfortable shooting, and that’s a good shot over the one in Game Four, where you could see he was searching for a three because he had just made one. Those are the shots we don’t want, and I think each game he’s learning those things.”

Celts remain in good shape

The Celtics will play their 95th game of the season tonight, and they are healthy, a tribute to their conditioning and the expertise of athletics trainer Ed Lacerte and massage therapist Vladimir Shulman.

“My motto is I try not to talk to Eddie Lacerte, and if he doesn’t talk to me, that means everybody’s good.” Rivers said yesterday. “I’ve yet to talk to Eddie today, and he’s yet to talk to me today, so that means we’re all 100 percent.”

Pistons await the winner

The winner of this series will play Detroit for the Eastern Conference championship and a berth in the NBA Finals. The Pistons dispatched Orlando in five games and are sitting home resting. The Celtics aren’t even thinking of a well-rested opponent in the next round.

“Why worry about the rest? They’re getting it anyway. No reason to lose sleep over that,” Rivers said. “We have our film guys working on the Detroit stuff, and I’m sure Cleveland does as well.”

Celts must play their game

The Celtics play with great energy on the parquet, and to beat the Cavs in Cleveland they will have to tap into a reserve.

“Not only just the great energy, but we have to have great execution as well,” Rivers said. “You know, that takes great mental focus, and I think that’s the key for us. Understand we want to win it bad, but you don’t want to win it so bad you get in the way of yourself. You see that with road teams in general, watching other playoff series. You just got to keep doing what you do and stay within your own game plan. If you do that, everything else will take care of itself.”

Gibson injured, won’t play

Cleveland guard Daniel Gibson suffered a separated left shoulder in the third quarter of Gave Five on Wednesday night and will be sidelined for a week or two, if the Cavaliers advance to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Pistons.

Gibson had an MRI yesterday at the Cleveland Clinic and was diagnosed with a separation of the acromioclavicular joint. He is out of Game Six tonight.

Gibson hurt the Celtics with 14 points in Game Four and averaged 5.6 points per game for the series.

mszostak@projo.com