Mavericks' Carlisle says benching Rondo was an 'aberration'

The Dallas Mavericks didn't acquire Rajon Rondo to sit on the bench during crunch time, notes head coach Rick Carlisle.

Carlisle's decision to sit Rondo for the final five minutes of the Mavericks' loss to the Chicago Bulls on Friday was a one-time thing, Carlisle told Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas.

"The other night's an aberration most likely," Carlisle said Sunday. "We have a closing five. I just deviated from it the other night. I don't expect that to happen very often."

Carlisle elected to play Devin Harris in place of Rondo down the stretch on Friday. Although Rondo is a superior player in the aggregate, Harris counts as a much more credible 3-point threat.

Regardless of the motives behind Carlisle's move, Rondo took everything in stride Friday, noting that it was ultimately Carlisle's move to make.

In the future, Carlisle stressed that Rondo will soak up the majority of crunch-time minutes at the point.

"Going forward, we play the whole game to set up the last five or six minutes to have a chance to win or catch somebody or close it out with a lead. Rondo's going to be in there most of the time. There's no doubt about that."