Last night's 105-86 Boston Celtics victory at the TD Garden provided a vivid example of how some point guard with all the skill in the world gets stuck trying to build a kingdom from the ground up while Rondo ascended to a throne by mere birthright.

When Rondo lobbed an alley-oop pass to Kevin Garnett as he sliced between and jumped over Mehmet Okur and Paul Millsap to put the Celtics up 77-56 with 3:01 left in the third quarter, that put Williams' entire night in perspective.

Utah's superstar point guard may soon feel like he's in that very same sinking ship scenario from which Celtics GM Danny Ainge rescued Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Garnett.

"It's not time to point fingers or anything," Williams said, taking the high road following the game. "We all played bad tonight. We've got to play better to win. We haven't done that on a consistent basis this year, and that is frustrating."

And yes, statistics lie. In cases like last night's game, they certainly lie. They lie like A-Rod in a one-on-one with Katie Couric.

Rondo finished with 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting to go with 11 assists and a rebound. Put those against Williams' pedestrian -- at least for him -- stats (13 points, seven rebounds, four assists) and Rondo wins the math equation easily.

But he doesn't win the eye test. Rondon had his moments where he used his quickness and got into the lane. He made Williams work, but by no means did he stop Williams.

The Jazz point man threw an assortments of offensive moves at Rondo. He used his dribble to get Rondo backing up just enough to drain the pull-up jump shot. He went to the dribble and put his 6-foot-3 205 pound frame to work as he muscled his way past the 6-foot-1 178 pound Rondo to get in the paint where he finished with a one-handed floater. Then he forced his way to the foul line by getting the ball and transition and attacking the rim.

That all came in the first quarter.

During the game Williams scored via the jump shot, by penetrating and finishing in traffic, by posting up Rondo and getting a lay-up, and he got to the free throw line.

His offensive array is far more diverse than the Rondo attack of speed, quickness followed up by more speed and more quickness. Not to mention, you can't back off Williams the way he was able to give ground to Rondo because he the outside shot was no threat.

"He's just a great player," Celtics head coach Doc Rivers said of Williams prior to the game. "He's top two, three in the league in my opinion. Maybe number one. Great size, speed. I think his shot is what sets him apart from most of the other guards. He's a great shooter. He's just a hell of a player."

Williams came into last night's game leading the Jazz in points per game (21.4) and assists per game (10.7, second-best in the NBA). He also came in with back issues which nearly kept him from playing. That does seem appropriate for a guy who is carrying his entire team.

He'd never admit it, but you've got to think Williams catches himself daydreaming about a role reversal. Imagine instead of running the floor with one other All-Star or All-NBA caliber player in Carlos Boozer, in Boston he'd have Garnett, Pierce and Allen with Rasheed Wallace coming off the bench.

"They're a great team," Williams said of the Celtics . "They have a group of guys who know their roles, one through ten. They come in. They do their job. They get stops. They're well-coached. They hold everybody accountable. That's what it takes to be a championship team."

If nothing else, Williams wouldn't be talking to reporters trying to explain how his squad came out with no energy and appeared intimidated.

"Right now we're soft," Williams said. "There's no way around it. We're not playing tough at all. They were quicker to loose balls. They got on the floor. They did the things you have to do to win."

No, Rondo didn't stop Williams. And he didn't have to stop Williams because the rest of the Jazz did it for him.

Lynn Worthy's e-mail address is lworthy@lowellsun.com