The Celtics are 27th in the league in terms of team rebounding, with an average of 39.3 TRB/game. However, they rank 11th in TRB differential — that is to say that the Celtics still out-rebound their opponents by 1.3 TRB/game. …How can this be? If you aren’t pulling down a lot of boards, and your opponent isn’t pulling down a lot of boards, then one of two things is true, either: a). both teams are making a lot of their shots, or b). one team is shooting tremendously better than the other. In the Celtics case, it’s the latter.
The Celtics FG% is 7.6% better than their opponents, by far the greatest differential in the league. The Mavericks have the 2nd highest FG% differential with +4.4%.
| FGA (league rank) | FG% | FTA | FT% | ORB | TRB | |
| Celtics | 76.6 (27th) | 51.3% (1st) | 23.8 (22nd) | 74.0 (23rd) | 7.6 (30th) | 39.3 (27th) |
| Opponents | 77.1 (28th) | 43.7 (24th) | 25.3 (17th) | 77.3 (9th) | 9.6 (25th) | 38.0 (29th) |
| Differential | -0.5 (15th) | +7.6 (1st) | -1.5 (20th) | -3.3 (20th) | -2.0 (27th) | +1.3 (11th) |
Stats accurate as of 12/10/10; collected by Robert Holmes Pooley
Game-by-game look at the C’s on the boards. W indicates the C’s out-rebounded their opponent; L – their opponent out-rebounded them; T – teams had an equal number of TRB.
GAME // Opponent // C’s TRB // Opp. TRB // TRB Battle
Game 1: v. MIA 42 39 W
Game 2: at CLE 38 37 W
Game 3: v. NY 54 38 W
Game 4: at DET 36 38 L
Game 5: v. MIL 43 42 W
Game 6: v. CHI 43 31 L
Game 7: at OKC 40 40 T
Game 8: at DAL 42 38 W
Game 9: at MIA 35 37 L
Game 10: at MEM 32 38 L
Game 11: v. WAS 40 36 W
Game 12: v. OKC 31 37 L
Game 13: at TOR 36 41 L
Game 14: at ATL 50 30 W
Game 15: v. NJ 33 42 L
Game 16: v. TOR 35 44 L
Game 17: at CLE 49 45 W
Game 18: v. POR 30 28 W
Game 19: v. CHI 44 34 W
Game 20: at NJ 49 36 W
Game 21: v. DEN 42 34 W
Game 22: at PHI 33 39 L
The C’s are 12-9-1 in TRB battles.
The C’s contest shots as well as anyone; their opponents shoot very poorly (43.7 FG%; 24th in the league). They also play slow relative to the rest of the league; their 91.0 possessions per 48 minutes ranks 20th in the league, so their opponents don’t get many scoring opportunities (77.1 FGA/game; 28th in the league). It’s such a fundamental gameplan, yet it’s rare you’ll see it executed so well: limit your opponents shot opportunities, and tightly contest the ones they get.
