Final: Piston 119, Celtics 113 - Rebounding kills Boston again

BOSTON CELTICS at DETROIT PISTONS

Regular season game 3

Little Caesar’s Arena, 3:30 p.m. - NBCS Boston

INJURIES

Boston: Luka Garza (Probable-concussion), Jaylen Brown (QUESTIONABLE-hamstring), Jayson Tatum (OUT-Achilles)

Detroit: Jaden Ivey (OUT-knee), Caris LeVert (DOUBTFUL, hamstring), Marcus Sasser (DOUBTFUL-hip)

OFFICIALS

Brian Forte (#45)    Andy Nagy (#83)    Brandon Schwab (#86)

THINGS I’M LOOKING FOR

1. Rebounding: After two games, the Celtics are the second-worst defensive rebounding team in the league at 61.5%. Obviously, we’re in miniscule sample sizes, but this was a major concern that I’ve been harping on for a while. EVERYBODY has to rebound. Turning and looking is unacceptable.

The word is very much out on Boston. Crash the glass and get a ton of second chances. The Celtics need to rebound better and get out in transition to make teams pay for that. 

2. Push the pace for 48 minutes: The Celtics are dead last in pace in the first and third quarters, and they're middle of the pack in the second and fourth. There are too many ebbs and flows with the pace to start the season, especially for a team with aspirations of being the fastest in the league. They had 16 fast break points against the Sixers and just two against New York. They made the promise to run. They have to keep it. 

3. Shooting: Derrick White and Payton Pritchard are off to cold starts. Some normal shooting from them would be nice so the Celtics can set a full court defense, force some turnovers, and get out in transition. 

Follow along with my thoughts as the game goes on. They’ll show up below and in the comments section, so hop in and share your opinion as well.