DETROIT — No team rebounds worse than the Boston Celtics. At least, not through the first three games of the 2025-26 season. Poor three-point shooting, foul-happy lineups, and adapting to new styles have hindered Boston amidst its 0-3 start, but nothing has hurt them more than the glass.
“The glass will solve a lot of our issues,” Jaylen Brown said after the Celtics’ 119-113 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday afternoon. “Just get on the rebounds. So, I got to figure out how to get my body ready to use my athleticism to get some more rebounds, or tip it out, or something. But teams have just beat us up on the glass at least the last three games.”
A three-game sample size isn’t enough to make snap judgments.
Most of the time.
The Celtics have a 63.5 defensive rebounding percentage this year. If that mark stands for the entire season, it would be the worst number since the 1997-98 season, per StatMuse.
It was the Toronto Raptors. The 1997-98 campaign marked their third in the NBA since joining as an expansion franchise two years prior. They didn’t make the playoffs for the first time until the 1999-00 season.
In 97-98, they went 16-66.
The rebounding has been unsustainably poor. But overreacting to one number requires the same for all numbers. And a quick glance at the defensive side of the ball paints a very different picture than a 0-3 record.
Teams have scored 113.7 points per game against the Celtics (seventh in the NBA) and are shooting just 42.0% from the field (fourth in the NBA). Maintaining that level of defensive presence throughout the season should put the Celtics in a good spot. They just haven’t been able to close possessions.
It’s not for a lack of effort, though. Most of the issue is personnel and style-based.
“I think we are fighting,” Joe Mazzulla said. “I didn't say that as if to say we're not. I think a little bit comes from the defense that we have. We're a little spread out. Being more aggressive. There's a cost-benefit analysis to every decision.”
Against the Detroit Pistons, their desire to slow down Cade Cunningham put them in a precarious position vs. guys like Jalen Duren and Ausar Thompson—two freak athletes who dominated the glass.
“Once we go to an aggressive pick-and-roll on Cunningham, that leaves us off the body, and that leaves us more spread out, and then they're able to cut behind us or be behind, and then they're able to get in that position,” Mazzulla said. “So, we chose to stop the rolls and turn off Cunningham and be a little bit more aggressive on that. And when that happens, you get more spread out, and you have athletes like Thompson that are able to get behind you, cut behind you, and get there.
“So, we just have to continue to fight like hell to get the ones that we can and finish those so that we can finish games.”
From this point forward, rebounding will be a focal point. Every single opponent shot that goes up will carry the weight of a disastrous three-game stretch on the boards to open this season.
And until the issue is corrected, the Celtics’ win-loss trajectory will undoubtedly continue in its current direction.