Celtics leave Milan in style with 105-75 victory

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MILAN - Rajon Rondo making shots - jumpers actually. A bench that scores more than 20 points in the first half. Jared Sullinger going into full-blown rebounding mode.

The Boston Celtics are tough to compete with, let alone defeat when that happens.

EA7 Emporio Armani found this out the hard way as the C's defense limited them to just 11 second-quarter points and the Celtics pulled away for a 105-75 win.

Leading the Celtics from the game's outset was Rajon Rondo.

Every season, Rondo tries to bring a little something more to the floor.

There were signs last season that his jumper - clearly the weakest part of his game - had improved.

On Sunday, Rondo delivered a near-flawless first half, making all seven of his field goal attempts along with dishing out two assists. He finished with 17 points and six assists.

To see Rondo knock down shots was not that big a surprise, but the starting lineup Celtics head coach Doc Rivers went with was a bit unexpected.

Joining Boston's new Big Three - Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce - in the starting lineup was rookie Jared Sullinger and Jason Terry in for Brandon Bass and Courtney Lee, respectively.

The lineup change seemed to work for all involved.

Sullinger got a chance to work with the starters, something C's coach Doc Rivers identified as something he wanted to do following Boston's loss on Friday.

Lee, who struggled in his first game for the Celtics, bounced back with nine points in the first half, the first two being on a powerful, one-handed dunk. Bass (4 points on 2-for-2 shooting, 5 rebounds) also had a strong start as the Celtics head back home with a split during its two-game European tour.

Terry had a solid game with 11 points. Even more impressive was the C's being 29 when he was on the floor. Boston also got a nice performance from Darko Milicic who had two points, nine rebounds and a game-high four blocked shots.

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