It’s no surprise the Celtics are struggling on the defensive glass this season given the amount of size that left Boston this offseason. However, it’s evident that this revamped roster could be drawing dead as a team most nights if they can’t improve on the boards, something that was painfully evident in their 119-113 loss to the Pistons on Sunday.
Detroit grabbed offensive rebounds on 46.4 percent of their misses in the win, tallying 30 second chance points off 18 offensive rebounds. Some of their biggest boards came in the fourth quarter, helping stop a Celtics comeback attempt with three straight putbacks.
Over Boston’s 0-3 start, they are the worst defensive rebounding team in the league, grabbing just 58 percent of their opponent’s misses. That’s a 13 percent drop from last season when Boston ranked 7th in the league in this category.
With Jayson Tatum sidelined indefinitely and Boston primarily playing single big lineups, the issue isn’t going away anytime soon. However, Jaylen Brown called on himself and his teammates to get the issue under control after the team’s first three-game losing streak since 2023.
“We got to figure that out,” Brown told reporters in Detroit via NBC Sports Boston. “A lot of our issues, we can solve this on the defensive glass. I gotta get more involved. I got to get more rebounds. A lot of long shots lead to long rebounds, so just timing. Some of the shots keep bouncing over our head or some of those guys are pushing us underneath. Rebounding is the biggest issue for us right now.”
Boston also struggled to keep a Pistons team with a big size and athleticism edge off the free throw line (36 attempts on Sunday). Still, Brown (six rebounds vs. Pistons) is putting the onus on himself to solve the rebounding issue first, believing finishing possessions will ease the burden on the rest of Boston’s defense.
“I just really think the glass will solve a lot of our issues,” Brown said. “I have to figure out and get my body ready to use my athleticism to get some more rebounds, tip it out or something. Teams are beating us up on the glass especially in the last three games.”
Boston’s next challenge will come quickly on that front as they face off against a Pelicans team on Monday night with one of the best offensive rebounders in the game in Zion Williamson.
“There’s ones that we have to get,” Joe Mazzulla said. “We have to be physical, we have to be tougher, we have to get those.”
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