This Boston Celtics group was never going to be a great rebounding team. But the first half of Sunday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers made that reality clearer than ever. They got absolutely dominated on the offensive glass. It was one of the only reasons that the Blazers were in the game at all.
Led by Donovan Clingan—a 7-foot-2 behemoth who won two collegiate national championships at UConn—the Blazers dominated the offensive glass. Neemias Queta couldn’t keep up, so the Celtics went zone. And even when they tried that look, it didn’t go well for them on the glass.
It was a painful reminder of one of the Celtics’ biggest weaknesses, but they found a way around it.
Offensive rebounding hurt Celtics in first half vs. Blazers
Through the first two quarters on Sunday night, the Blazers pulled down nine offensive boards and scored 10 points off of second-chance opportunities. Clingan alone was responsible for five of the offensive rebounds.
Boston played solid first-shot defense for the entire first half, but it didn’t matter. Time and time again, Portland found a way to grab an offensive rebound and make the Celtics pay for their relative lack of size.
The Blazers are one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the NBA. They grab 14.1 per contest, which ranks third in the league, trailing only the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons.
Having a guy like Clingan helps in that regard. He’s an absolute monster in the paint, which puts a lot of pressure on opposing teams, especially teams like the Celtics who are fairly small (outside of Queta, in particular).
But it’s more than just Clingan. All of Portland’s wings and forwards are constantly crashing the offensive glass, with guys like Toumani Camara and Sidy Cissoko constantly flying into the paint.
Queta is usually so occupied with boxing out Clingan that he’s unable to grab the rebound. And when the Celtics ran zone, Gonzalez was usually in the middle, giving Queta a chance to fight for the board, but it was still a struggle at times.
Despite all of that, the Celtics entered the second half up by eight points, largely thanks to Jaylen Brown’s 27 points. However, they also did a good job on the offensive glass.
Boston grabbed six offensive rebounds, scoring 11 points on second-chance opportunities.
Rebounding is still going to be a struggle point for the Celtics at times. The first half of Sunday night’s game proved that. But they still found a way to play winning basketball in spite of the issue.