The Brooklyn Nets' struggles continued as Rajon Rondo and the Boston Celtics handed them a 93-76 defeat on Christmas day.
Rondo scored 19 points and six rebounds to lead the Celtics to a comfortable win.
"We moved the ball, we rebounded the ball," the Associated Press quoted Rondo as saying. "They beat us pretty bad on the glass (last time), so tonight we did an exceptional job on the glass, taking care of the defensive rebounds, and we got stops."
Rondo played his first complete game this season against the divisional rivals, the Nets, making eight out of 16 attempts, while adding five assists and three steals. In the last game against Brooklyn, Rondo was ejected for shoving Nets forward Kris Humphries into the courtside seats.
The Nets started off well by outscoring Boston in the first quarter 24-22, but after that they lost control of the game.
"It was a big game for us. It was a division rival. We were ready for a big game. It just didn't happen," Nets guard Deron Williams said.
For the Celtics, Jared Sullinger matched his career high by scoring 16 points and also had seven rebounds. Jeff Green added 15 points, while Jason Terry added 11 points against the Nets.
With the help of a 23-5 run the Celtics outscored their opponents 34-18 in the second quarter, after which the Nets could not bounce back in the game.
The Celtics outscored the Nets 37-34 in the second to ease to victory.
"It was good to get off to this start. It was good to finally play from start to finish, especially with the way we've been playing against Brooklyn," Paul Pierce said. "So it was a well-balanced game, but I'm happy with the start of the trip."
For the Nets, Gerald Wallace and Brook Lopez scored 15 points apiece, while Williams added 10 points and six assists. Joe Johnson finished with 12 points and made only four of 14 from the floor against Boston.
"This one hurts. We didn't play our game. They beat us from the opening tip," Wallace said. "We didn't make shots. We turned the ball over too easy. Our defense just wasn't there tonight. We were not ourselves tonight."
The Nets did not shoot well in the game, making a mere 26 of 64 attempts, while Boston had 38 of 77 from the floor. Boston also out-rebounded the Nets 41-36 in the game.
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