Boston Celtics basketball is back! The Celtics kicked off their preseason overseas against the Italian team Olimpia Milano, a team who themselves are also familiar with championships, winning 26 Italian League titles, although the night belonged to the 17-time NBA champions. The Celtics routed Milano with the final score of 124-91, a 33-point blowout.
Milano can’t keep up:
It’s fair to say Milano had themselves a tough night, shockingly the only lead they had on the Celtics was the first basket of the game. Eight out of 12 C’s first quarter baskets came off assists, and frankly that that was the story of the game. The pace of the NBA team was far too much for the Italian team, 70 points in the paint for the Celtics says a lot. Not to mention, when a team shoots 56 percent for the game, it’s going to be hard to win against them.
Everybody gets a bite:
Well, nearly every player on the green team’s roster had scored, 14 out of 15 players to be exact. James Young was the lone player who did not have a point. Five players scored double figures for the Celtics, including newly acquired David Lee who was the stand out. Lee looked like he had been playing under Brad Stevens’ system for a long time, looked perfect in the offense. 13 points and seven rebounds for the game, Lee was also distributing the ball around. Coming over from the defending champions Golden State Warriors, Lee will bring experience, veteran guidance, and unselfishness to this young Celtics team moving forward.
Speaking of passing the ball, second-year player Marcus Smart led the Celtics in assists with six, while tacking on 11 points. Of course, we can’t forget to mention the man who led Boston in scoring last season, Isaiah Thomas. Thomas had 18 points in just 20 minutes, while getting to the line seven times.
Moving forward:
The Celtics will continue their overseas journey by traveling to Madrid, Spain to face the home team, Real Madrid. They are champions as well, 32 times to be exact, in the Liga ACB. It’s going to be interesting to see how the coaching staff manages the lineup and playing time in this upcoming contest. Three of the Celtics' players did not even reach double figures in minutes today, and the minutes that they did play in were “garbage time”, also excluding the fact that Evan Turner did not play in the exhibition game. Expect to see more of the younger guys getting minutes, especially the ones fighting for a roster spot like Perry Jones III. The Celtics play Real Madrid on Thursday, October 8, at 3 pm ET, which will be televised on NBATV.