Until he's consistently able to make a mid-range jumper, teams are going to challenge Rajon Rondo to beat them with his shooting. But the Washington Wizards learned the hard way Thursday night that you can't just forget about Boston's speedy point guard.

Rondo slashed to the basket along the left baseline and threw down a vicious one-handed jam with little more than a minute remaining to break the final tie of the night as the Celtics escaped with a 104-102 triumph at the Verizon Center.

Rondo finished with a team-high 21 points on 10-of-20 shooting -- by far the most shots he's taken in a game this season, besting his previous season high of 16 against Minnesota -- and added a game-high 11 assists for his 10th double-double of the season.

"Clearly their game plan was that they weren’t going to guard him," said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. "They were going to give him shots and he took them and that’s what we tell him. Once it’s your shot, it’s your shot. There’s no more passing and being a point guard. When it’s time to shoot, it’s time to shoot and you’re a shooter. I thought he did that tonight."

Rondo, who elevated his game in the fourth quarter for the second straight matchup against a premier shooter, seemed to feed off the challenge of matching up with offensive-minded guard Gilbert Arenas. Agent 0 finished with a game-high 25 points and eight assists, but missed two pivotal free throws late in the game and a potential tying 3-pointer in the waning moments.

"Rondo was being aggressive and he had a head-to-head matchup with Gilbert," said center Kendrick Perkins. "Gilbert was coming down the court making shots, so [Rondo] had to score. As bigs, we just like to do our job and get him open.”

Each time the Wizards got close late, Rondo responded. Antawn Jamison's layup with 1:55 to play tied the game at 96, but at the other end, Rondo's layup gave Boston the lead again. Jamison responded with a putback, but Rondo's baseline jam emphatically slammed the door.

"Rondo really played a great game tonight and he came through with that dunk," said Rasheed Wallace. "He stepped in and did what he was supposed to do and knocked down shots."