I only caught the last few minutes of the first half, then the majority of the second half last night, but there are very few teams in the league who are prepared to deal with the level of intensity the Celtics brought in the second half. It makes the `07-`08 team all the more impressive to reflect on, because they basically played at that level for an entire season.
We simply have not seen Rondo diving for loose balls in the regular season.
I don't know that we should expect them to maintain that level of intensity throughout the season, but it's at least comforting to know that that level is still attainable.