The Philadelphia 76ers are one of the worst teams in the NBA at limiting opponents to one shot per possession. They surrendered 12.1 second-chance opportunities per game in the regular season. That ranked 27th. It also led to giving up 15.8 second-chance points per contest. That also ranked in the bottom seven across the Association.
A prime example of those struggles took place on Mar. 1 at TD Garden. Neemias Queta had a career night, generating 27 points. That was a personal best; so were the 10 offensive rebounds he grabbed, which fueled that production.
With the Sixers unable to keep him off the glass, the Boston Celtics' starting center registered 13 second-chance points. That included an offensive rebound and put-back that led to an opportunity at the free-throw line, which he converted on.
It's an important battle on the margins, with Queta leading the way for Boston.
The Celtics shot just 30.9 percent from beyond the arc in their four games against the 76ers. That's an appreciable drop from their regular-season conversion rate of 36.7 percent. However, they made up for that with 19 second-chance points. They averaged 16.9 during the regular season.
"That's definitely an important part of the margins," said Sam Hauser at the Auerbach Center on Friday. "If you can win that battle, give yourself easy looks with second-chance opportunities, not only you're getting more shots, but you're limiting their transition offense on the other end. So definitely a big emphasis for us throughout the regular season and obviously going into the playoffs."
Neemias Queta's prepared for whatever the 76ers do to adjust
Joel Embiid did not play during Boston's burgeoning center's career night. The seven-foot, 280-pound former league MVP is also out to begin the 23rd chapter of the NBA's most frequent playoff matchup. His recovery from an appendectomy could keep him out for the entire series. Embiid's absence forces Philadelphia to try to figure out how to keep Queta off the glass and limit the Celtics' second-chance opportunities without their star center.
A day before Game 1 of this first-round rivalry clash, Queta shared his outlook on some of the Sixers' options to combat a game-within-the-game that will help shape this series.
"They can do a lot of different things, maybe going to a smaller lineup, maybe more physical, playing faster. I'm sure they'll think about ways to slow us down and give us different looks," said Queta while sitting at the podium at the Auerbach Center.
However, Joe Mazzulla has consistently preached to his team that what wins in exhibition contests does so in the regular season and when the playoffs get underway. There is great familiarity between these two sides and an understanding of how the 76ers might adjust. But Boston's areas of emphasis, the ones that play the most crucial roles in determining the outcome, like this battle on the glass, haven't changed.
"Our focus is on playing the same way as we always did. They're a great team, but we're focused on us playing our way, playing the way that got us this far, and me being myself is going to help us do that."
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