Opener leaves Rajon Rondo feeling good

HOUSTON — Rajon Rondo watched video of his opening-night performance Wednesday against the Brooklyn Nets and gave himself positive reviews.

After Saturday, he wasn’t as pleased.

Rondo finished with 4 points, 8 assists, and 10 rebounds on 2-for-9 shooting in the Celtics’ 104-90 loss to the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.

“I think the effort was there, they just bullied us tonight,” he said. “I don’t think I was rusty. I didn’t shoot the ball well. I didn’t make my normal shots. I turned the ball over more than normal.

“There’s going to be games like that. There are going to be games like I played last [Wednesday]. There’s no excuses.”

The highlight of his evening was a one-handed dunk off a breakaway steal, his first dunk since returning from surgery to repair a torn right anterior cruciate ligament.

“It’s been a while since I played in a game, coming back from ACL, I am about 18, 19 months out from surgery,” he said. “My legs are stronger and I feel fine.”

The good news for the Celtics is Rondo did not experience any discomfort in his surgically repaired left hand and despite tiring in the second half, he felt physically fine in his first competitive game since April 14.

“I think I got a little tired, but I think I did a pretty good job for the first game back in seven months,” he said before the game. “It was good to be back out there on the court. It’s still just one game. I got lucky last game. My teammates made some shots. I called a bank [on a 3-point shot], that wasn’t lucky but other than that, the rest of the shots were lucky.”

Rondo said the entire team went to dinner here Friday, giving the players another opportunity to bond.

“We have a lot of fun guys, a lot of playful guys with good personalities and it eases everything,” Rondo said. “You don’t have too many stiff guys, older guys set in their ways. Everybody’s young and can be molded and what better way than having dinner with food?”

Rondo said this year’s team differs in personality from last year’s club.

“The only thing that’s the same for the most part is maybe Avery [Bradley], Jeff [Green], and [Jared Sullinger] are in our starting lineup,” he said. “As long as we get a good amount to start together, our chemistry would be a lot better and we’ll be a better team than last year.”

An added dimension

The Rockets definitely noticed Rondo’s 13-point, 12-assist, 7-rebound effort against the Nets. And the Celtics bring a different swagger and awareness with a healthy Rondo.

Rockets center Dwight Howard, who played against Rondo for years when the Celtics and Magic were battling for Eastern Conference supremacy, offered nothing but compliments.

“You’re talking about a guy who can score, pass, shoot, do whatever you need him to do, defend, rebound,” Howard said. “He’s tough. He’ll get you 13 rebounds, 10 assists, and 20 points and he does it easy. The one thing I like about Rondo is he’s looking to make everybody better. Me playing against Rondo a lot, especially in those Celtic days with him, KG [Kevin Garnett], Paul Pierce, and those guys, he was tough to guard.

“Not only was he making plays for everybody else, he was getting 16, 17 rebounds. He’s always a matchup nightmare for anybody because he’s crafty. That’s what makes him so good.”

Coming along slowly

Gerald Wallace was available for Wednesday’s opener but didn’t play and he received a shot in his surgically repaired left knee. Wallace said he is slowly recovering from surgery to repair a torn meniscus and bone spurs in his left ankle.

Health appears to be one of the reasons he’s out of the rotation.

“Like I said, I’m not 100 percent but I’m dealing with what I’ve got to deal with,” he said. “Hopefully it will just continue to get stronger and hopefully I’ll be pain-free. That’s my goal, to be pain-free.”

Wallace said the shot determined whether he had tendinitis or arthritis in the left knee.

“I had some soreness from where I got shot after [Wednesday’s] game but other than that it was good,” he said. “I’m not close, not to being back to the normal way I’m used to playing. I’m not there. I’ve got to continue to work and build the strength in my leg up and get back to where I want to be.”

Asked about being left out of the rotation, Wallace said, “That’s [coach Brad Stevens’s] decision. It’s whatever it is. I go by what he says so it’s not an issue for me. I think the toughest thing is me not being 100 percent. I just had my first surgery, so I’m dealing with a lot of stuff I never dealt with in my life. All this is new to me.”

Not like old times

While his players may disagree, Rockets coach Kevin McHale said playing the Celtics doesn’t elicit the emotion it once did. “No, [when] I left Boston it was a whole other century,” McHale said. Said Howard, “I know even mentioning the name ‘Celtics’ brings a smile [to McHale], thinking about everything that happened when he played 80 years ago. Sorry, Coach. He always talks about it. We hear those stories every day about Larry Bird and Chief [Robert Parish] and the rest of the gang.” . . . The Rockets were without point guard Patrick Beverley, who strained his right hamstring five minutes into Wednesday’s game. Isaiah Canaan got the start for the Rockets, while James Harden switched to point guard . . . Nick Johnson, the nephew of Celtics great Dennis Johnson , made his NBA debut with four scoreless minutes.