Rajon Rondo was perfect in the first half, making all seven shots he took, and finished the game with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and six assists to lead the Boston Celtics past EA7 Emporio Armani Milano, 105-75, in their second preseason game on Sunday in Milan, Italy.
"We established pace," said Celtics head coach Doc Rivers. "One of the things we really wanted to do was get out and run and space the floor."
For the second straight game, Boston shot 50.0 percent from the field (38-for-76) and drastically cut down its turnover total, giving the ball away only 14 times compared to 25 turnovers in the preseason opening loss in Turkey on Friday. The Celtics amassed 54 rebounds, 19 assists, seven steals and had six blocks.
Jeff Green played well in his second game back from a heart ailment that sidelined him for the entire 2011-12 season, scoring 17 points in over 24 minutes. Paul Pierce scored 14 and Jason Terry, Courtney Lee and Brandon Bass each had 11 points for the Celtics. Darko Milicic was impressive as well, totaling nine rebounds and four blocks.
"Darko has been phenomenal with his defense and his passing," Rivers said.
Boston returns to the United States next week and resumes preseason play against the New York Knicks at the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut on Saturday, October 13.