Righting the Ship: Celtics 105, Armani 75

Well that's more like it. The Celtics came out on the attack and never looked back. Doc Rivers came up with an interesting group to start the game by inserting Jason Terry and rookie Jared Sullinger for Courtney Lee and Brandon Bass. And it definitely seemed to work: a first quarter explosion of 34 points led by Rajon Rondo (17 points on 7-of-7 shooting) got the Celtics started on the right foot and set the tone for the rest of the game. Some positives and negatives...

Rajon Rondo drives to the hoop as part of his first quarter outburst on Sunday.

The good:

The aforementioned Rondo came out and looked for his shot, something Doc Rivers said he wants him to do more of this season. Rondo did not score any more points after the first, ending up with 17 points and 6 dimes for the day.

Jeff Green picked up where he left off from Friday, with another efficient performance of 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting. Having a healthy, confident, and effective Jeff Green off the bench this season will do wonders for this team, and he will quickly show Celtics fans what a big difference he can make in all facets of the game.

Courtney Lee bounced back nicely, pairing with Brandon Bass and Jason Terry to score 11 points a piece.

Summer league standout Dionte Chrismas had a nice game, chipping in 9 points on 4-of-6 shooting. Christmas has a legitimate chance of making this team. He proved he can score during the summer league, and he showed this ability today. Today's game just improves his chances of being with the club in Miami on October 30.

The turnover issue was corrected. Although still a bit high -- Rondo finished with a team-high 4 -- the team went from 25 in the first game to 14 today, a significant game-to-game improvement. 

Don't look now, but your Boston Celtics have 89 rebounds in the first two preseason games combined. They pulled down an astonishing 54 tonight. If you told me after a game last season that the Celtics pulled down more than 50 rebounds, I would've played along with the joke. Let's see if they can carry this pace into next week's tuneup with the Knicks and into the regular season. 

The bad:

Hard to find any negatives from a 30 point victory. But if there was an area I'd like to see this team improve, it would be first quarter defense. After allowing 26 points in the first on Friday, they allowed 31 in the first frame today. I know Doc is still testing some things out, as evident with the starting lineup today. That starting five is not the best defensive group the Celtics are capable of putting out there, but Doc wants to see what he has. This early defense issue is not something to stress about, but something to keep an eye on.

Something to watch going forward is Chris Wilcox's health, who was a DNP again due to ongoing back spasms. This can be a very tricky injury that, if not treated properly, could be a lingering issue, something the Celtics do not need. This team is relying on Wilcox to be one of their primary bigs off the bench who has the uncanny ability to run the floor with Rondo and finish strong at the rim. If the Celtics are to be without him for any period of time, it might be a problem. 

What's next:

The Celtics head back to the states tomorrow after a successful trip overseas. They will begin preparing for their next tuneup with the New York Knicks on Saturday night in Hartford, Connecticut.