The Boston Celtics are starting to find their stride. They believed progress was happening while combating early-season adversity and a 0-3 start. Quickly backing up that declaration, their last two tilts have produced victories vs. the New Orleans Pelicans and Cleveland Cavaliers.
In Wednesday's 125-105 win over the latter on the TD Garden parquet, Neemias Queta, Josh Minott, and Luka Garza became the franchise's first trio in over a decade to snag five offensive rebounds each in a game. That hasn't happened since Brandon Bass, Jared Sullinger, and Kris Humphries did so against the Pelicans in 2014, per Celtics in-house reporter Taylor Snow.
Queta, Minott, and Garza each created five second-chance opportunities for the hosts in their victory over the Cavaliers. It was a testament to Boston's aggressive approach. Joe Mazzulla's team is repeatedly sending several players in pursuit of offensive rebounds.
Against a frontcourt featuring Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley, the Celtics manufactured an 18-11 advantage in offensive rebounds and a 23-19 edge in second-chance scoring.
Teams are selling out for what the Celtics accomplished
Boston's success on the glass, plus the ability to force 14 turnovers to Cleveland's 10, paved the way for the hosts to earn 95 shots to the visitors' 87. That's a difference-making gap that teams are selling out for. They're fouling more in hopes of creating turnovers and placing a premium on crashing the offensive glass.
"The league's in a great place with the physicality," said Mazzulla while discussing fouling going up across the Association. "And I think what that's the trade off of playing physical for 48 minutes is willing to live with those, right? And then, teach the guys and have an understanding of situational fouls, which ones you just can't have, whether it's at the end of a quarter, or, I think we've had two a couple [of] games ago with two seconds on a shot clock on a close-out situation.
"So, I think that's just a byproduct of playing physical over 48 minutes, you'll have some of that, and then being better at the situational ones that you can control."
Embracing a more aggressive approach defensively, making a concerted effort to force turnovers, has seen the Celtics go from averaging the second-fewest fouls per game last season to being responsible for the eighth-most to start the current campaign. However, a new-look roster requires a new approach to achieving victory. The trade-off is worth it. And if they can adhere to Mazzulla's message about avoiding them in certain situations, the cost-benefit ratio will skew even more in their favor.