How the Celtics keep beating the Bucks up on the glass

Rebounding has been a nightmare for Celtics teams over the last couple of postseasons, and it’s been largely due to personnel. In recent years, Boston's true bigs lacked size, length and athleticism, making them vulnerable against stronger bigs with extended reach like Marcin Gortat, Robin Lopez, Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson. Many night, the results were not pretty, as the C’s let opponents grab an offensive rebound on nearly 30 percent of their missed shots last year, the highest mark of any postseason team.

Boston’s front office sought to address this problem in the offseason by adding length to their lineup. They drafted Jayson Tatum in June. They traded for Marcus Morris in July. They signed a pair of above-average rebounders in Daniel Theis and Aron Baynes. Danny Ainge topped it off by adding Greg Monroe to the fold in February, turning what was an area of weakness into a potential strength.

Despite those additions, the C’s finished the regular season as a middle-of-the-pack rebounding squad. That’s no small feat for a team that was bottom-five in the league last year, but this crew was merely holding its own on most nights on the glass. Brad Stevens liked to go small at center, which nullified the team’s size advantage on many nights of the regular season.

However, the equation changed for Boston once Milwaukee settled in as the No. 7 seed this postseason. The Celtics drew an opponent that was similar to their old selves, lacking strong rebounders at nearly every position except power forward, with Giannis Antetokounmpo. For the first two games of this series, the Celtics have exploited that weakness on a variety of fronts, and it has helped swing the first two games in Boston’s favor.

The Celtics are averaging 21 second-chance points over the first two games of the series, which is the second-highest mark among postseason teams. Let’s take a closer look at how Boston has turned the tables on its former rebounding woes against the Bucks. 

Taking advantage of occupied defenders

The Celtics have made a point of getting the ball to Al Horford in the post against Antetokounmpo all series long. He’s seen success down there, bullying the smaller defender, and that has preoccupied defenders nearby. In this video, notice how everyone in the lane is preoccupied with Horford on this postup instead of their own defenders. Jaylen Brown takes advantage of this by sprinting in from the perimeter past Khris Middleton to position himself for an easy putback.



Using bulk against mismatches

When the Celtics stay big, they're going to have an above-average offensive rebounder in the game with Baynes or Monroe. These crafty veterans are stronger than anyone on the Bucks roster, and can carve out space for themselves against pretty much all the Bucks bigs. However, things get unfair for Milwaukee when switches come into play. The Bucks lack above-average rebounders on the wing and in the backcourt, which leads to added trouble on cross matches. On this possession, Middleton gets switched against Baynes on the wing. His half-hearted attempt to box Baynes out leads to a tap out by the center and an open Brown 3.



The Celtics’ guards have also done a great job in getting past the first line of defense on dribble penetration. The constant breakdowns have forced the Bucks bigs to contest shots at the rim, pulling them out of position for the rebound. Watch how Rozier draws help on these drives, leaving Baynes to fend with a guard (or nobody at all) for a putback rebound. He’s winning these type of battles 100 out of 100 times.





Hustle plays

The Bucks may have the athleticism advantage at a lot of position, but the Celtics have proven to be a hungrier team in this series when it comes to loose balls. Milwaukee's Joe Prunty lamented that reality after the game on Tuesday.

“Boston from the jump, I thought they played harder,” Prunty explained. “First-quarter differential, similar to the other night, seven turnovers to start that quarter, which was similar to the other night. But loose balls, little things, even offensive rebounds early in the game as well. The little things were the problems, and a lot of that added up throughout the entire game.”

Boston has won the battle for loose balls, but they also have worked hard for offensive rebounds as well. Notice the extra hustle that Guerschon Yabusele and Brown show to outmuscle Tyler Zeller for these boards, which once again produces an easy look within seconds.





The good news for the Celtics is that the Bucks have no real answer to all of these rebounding problems. Milwaukee struggles on the offensive glass as well (just 14 second-chance points all series long), so their ability to keep pace with Boston on that front simply isn't there. Added effort will take away some opportunities for the Celtics, but there are no elite rebounders down the bench for Prunty to turn to.

With floor spacing around Antetokounmpo likely to be a priority for Milwaukee going forward, the C’s will be well positioned to keep crashing the offensive glass for the remainder of the series against a smaller Bucks lineup. It’s a balancing act for this Celtics roster, knowing they need to protect themselves against transition opportunities for Milwaukee by having some bodies hustle back. They should be able to do that while leaving a couple bodies down low to fight for boards. The constant stream of easy points (tip-ins and open 3-point looks on kickouts) is essential for the C’s shorthanded offense in this series and it should continue as the series shifts to Milwaukee.