How Kyrie Irving helped the Celtics rebound their way to win over Thunder

Defensive rebounding has been a nemesis for the small-ball Celtics throughout the Brad Stevens era. The team knowingly sacrifices size down low for the sake of defensive versatility, a move that has proved to be a net positive for the team in the long run.

Still, on a night when bruiser Aron Baynes (sore hamstring) watched from the sidelines, rebounding looked like the reason why Boston would lose to Oklahoma City in the first half of Thursday's game. The Celtics did not shoot much worse than the Thunder in a horrific opening 24 minutes (both teams were under 40 percent from the field), yet it was the Thunder that led by 16 at the half after hitting the 50-point mark. How did they build a 16-point lead? Twelve offensive rebounds and 14 second-chance points had a lot to do with it. The Celtics had just four second-chance points despite an avalanche of misses.

The Thunder have been the worst NBA offense through five games, but they're also the best offensive rebounding team in the league. That setup makes second-chance points one of their only reliable sources of scoring, which proved true in the first half against the Celtics. They grabbed an offensive rebound on nearly every other miss in the first half (43 percent offensive rebounding rate) as the C’s struggled to keep Steven Adams and other athletic pieces like Nerlens Noel, Jerami Grant and Paul George off the glass. The C’s defense was stellar as a whole, yet it didn’t show up in the score sheet due to those rebounding woes.

So how did Boston come back to win this game? A 40-point third quarter will get the headlines, but that outburst ultimately didn’t stop the C’s from falling behind by nine points midway through the fourth quarter and shooting 27 percent from the field in that frame. Instead, it was Boston’s defense and rebounding that locked down the Thunder in crunch time, forcing Oklahoma City into 10 straight misses over the final four minutes of the game. While the Thunder shot just 39 percent in the second half (same as the first half), their second-chance opportunities also disappeared after intermission. The hosts grabbed just four offensive rebounds on 26 missed shots, resulting in just three second-chance points.

How did the Celtics clean up on the glass despite staying small for the entire second half against the best offensive rebounding team in the league? Some unlikely sources came to the rescue in what could be some encouraging progress for the long run.

Kyrie Irving gets his hands dirty: The All-Star point guard spoke earlier this week about his desire to stay committed on the defensive end this year.

“I just feel like I’m asking myself to do a lot more on the defensive end this year,” he said. “I think the next eight to 10 years – God willing, I’m able to play that long – I want to take that challenge on that end and in order to do that, you have to be in phenomenal shape. I think that even for me, coming to the realization that I’ve coasted certain times on the defensive end throughout seasons and haven’t taken the challenge. This year, I want to take that challenge and stop my man and lead these guys on the defensive end first.”

The Celtics have seen glimpses of Irving fully engaged on defense before (see last year’s 16-game winning streak), but Thursday night did not look like one of these nights, particularly in the first half as he lost Dennis Schroder on multiple occasions for wide open buckets. The story changed in the second half. While Irving was spared Russell Westbrook duty thanks to Marcus Smart, he did find himself in position guarding shooters on the weak side.

With Al Horford forced to box out the monstrous Adams on the glass, it was up to others to actually grab the ball on any miss and Irving did just that with two huge rebounds in the final four minutes. Watch how he beats Adams to the ball on move these plays, saving what likely would have been an easy putback for the seven-footer.





These are the type of plays that will enable the Celtics’ smallball lineup to hold their own against true bigs in the coming weeks and months. They were also reflective of a Celtics team that was willing to muck it up to ensure the Thunder weren’t going to win this game on the glass. Nearly everyone got in the act in some form in the second half, including Gordon Hayward jostling for position with Adams here.



Semi Ojeleye played some center in place of Daniel Theis to maximize the team’s defensive versatility in the second half. Ojeleye is a below-average rebounder as a forward, but he uses his smart instincts here to tip a ball off a miss towards his teammates.



Marcus Morris has been terrific on the glass all year (team-high 10 rebounds on Thursday night) and he showed off the hustle on this sequence despite not evening getting credit for the rebound. After a miss by Grant, he beats the forward to the loose ball despite a hard closeout on the shot. Grant fouls him while going for the ball, giving Morris crucial free throws in a penalty situation.



Sometimes, all it takes is simple fundamentals, as was the case late in the fourth quarter with Jayson Tatum. He locates his man (Grant) before throwing a body on him while locating the basketball. There was no more staring and waiting for the ball to land or giving up position. The C’s had three bodies crashing the class on nearly every possession and it helped to open the door for a 16-1 run to win the game.

With a scrapper like Hayward in the fold, and Morris and Tatum improving their production on the glass, defensive rebounding has the potential to turn into a strength for this smaller group, even when they are facing true bigs. It’s going to take a commitment from the likes of Irving for any small-ball lineup to be at its best on the glass, but we saw what they are capable of in the second half on Thursday night -- and that’s an important step forward for them to continue to thrive on the defensive end all year long. The bottom line? They finished the night as the top-ranked defense in the NBA. Improved rebounding will help them stay in that spot all year long.