On Thursday night, the Los Angeles Lakers welcomed back Rajon Rondo after a string of missed games since injuring his finger in the Christmas Day matinee against the Golden State Warriors.

The Lakers sorely missed Rondo's veteran presence and playmaking, resulting in a slump that has them slip from fourth place in the West to being kicked out of the top eight.

In Los Angeles' matchup with the Minnesota Timberwolves, the savvy point guard brought out his usual bag of tricks and it included a sly tactic that, unfortunately for Rondo, did not get past the referees' wits.

As Taj Gibson attempted his second free throw, Rondo can be seen nearby waiting to throw the towel towards the Lakers' bench. Some other players may get away with it, but not Rajon Rondo, who's earned a reputation of being a scheming basketball mind.

His position and timing of the throw could not have been coincidental, right? Knowing Rondo, it must have been his strategy to distract Gibson. But the referees were on their toes in this particular instance.

Regardless, the technical foul hardly affected the game which the Timberwolves won, 120-105.

Rondo had himself a night, tallying 15 points, six rebounds, 13 assists, one steal, and two blocks. He was by far the Lakers' best player, but it was not going to make the cut against the tandem of Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins who scored 27 and 23 points, respectively.