Three games into their season, defensive rebounding looked like a potentially fatal flaw for the Celtics.
But since being manhandled on the glass in consecutive late-October losses to New York and Detroit, Boston has gone from wretched to respectable in that important area.
The Celtics enter Friday night’s matchup with the Nets ranked an uninspiring 27th in the NBA in defensive rebounding rate — but over the 12 games since their 0-3 start, they’re 13th. They’re also fourth in offensive rebounding percentage and ninth in overall rebounding rate during that span.
“Obviously, we’ve got a long way to go,” guard Derrick White said Thursday. “But at the beginning of the year, it seemed like we had a lot longer than we do now. So I’ll say that.”
Boston was expected to struggle on the boards this season after losing four of its top five rebounders from 2024-25 to injury (Jayson Tatum) or offseason exits (Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet).
The team was so inconsistent there during the preseason that head coach Joe Mazzulla repeatedly pulled players from games when they surrendered an offensive rebound. The Celtics then allowed a total of 50 offensive boards over their first three regular-season games, including 21 by the Knicks and 19 by the Pistons.
Since then, though, they’ve stabilized — and their improvements have shown in the standings. The Celtics have won three straight and eight of their last 12. Their net rating entering Friday’s game against Brooklyn at TD Garden ranked eighth in the league, trailing only the Thunder, Rockets, Nuggets, Pistons, Spurs, Knicks and Timberwolves.
“We watched a lot of film on what we can get better at,” center Neemias Queta said. “A lot of times, rebounding is all about effort and hitting first, making sure your guy doesn’t get it, go get it with two hands. Team rebounding is the main thing, and we’re all collectively trying to make an effort for those things to happen for us to get the ball.”
Queta, who’s averaging 8.1 rebounds per game in his first season as an NBA starter, has played a key role in that resurgence. Though he’s had a few costly lapses — most notably on Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic’s game-winning putback on Nov. 3 — Boston’s defensive rebounding percentage and defensive rating both plummet when its lone 7-footer is not on the floor.
Keeping Queta healthy will be vital, as the dropoff from him to his backups has been steep.
Second-string center Luka Garza is a standout offensive rebounder — his OREB% off missed field goals ranks in the 88th percentile for his position, per Cleaning the Glass — but has struggled on the defensive boards throughout his career (18th percentile this season). Reserve bigs Xavier Tillman and Chris Boucher have hardly played over the last three weeks.
“(It’s about) just making sure you’re more locked in in the weight room, just trying to keep getting stronger, taking care of your body, getting treatment with the guys, going and getting cold tub sessions and saunas,” said Queta, who’s on pace to more than double his single-season career high in minutes played. “All that stuff really adds up. We’re not even a quarter of the way into the season, and you see a lot of injuries happening in the league. You’re just trying to be on top of your stuff as best as you can, and you’ll be more prepared for the rest of the year.”
Jordan Walsh deserves credit, as well, for the work he’s done on the glass since breaking into the rotation in early November. As of Friday, his rebounding rate off opponents’ missed field goals ranked in the 99th percentile of all NBA wings. Only New York’s Josh Hart was higher. Walsh’s offensive rebounding rate also ranked in the 87th percentile.
“Everybody looked in the mirror and just thought about making themselves better,” Queta said. “And collectively, we’re all on the same page with that.”
The Celtics’ improvements will be tested in rematches against the Pistons on Nov. 26 and Knicks on Dec. 2; both rank near the top of the league in offensive rebounding. Those are part of a stretch of five consecutive games against likely playoff teams that also includes dates with the Magic (Sunday), Timberwolves (Nov. 29) and Cavaliers (Nov. 30).
