The Boston Celtics are off to a dismal 0-3 start, and their defensive rebounding woes were laid bare in a 119-113 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. The Celtics’ struggles on the defensive glass, a problem exacerbated by the loss of size in the offseason, have become a glaring Achilles’ heel. Detroit exploited this weakness ruthlessly, grabbing offensive rebounds on 46.4 percent of their misses, which translated to 18 offensive boards and a staggering 30 second-chance points. The fourth quarter was particularly brutal, with the Pistons securing three straight putbacks to thwart a Boston comeback attempt.
Boston’s defensive rebounding has plummeted to the league’s worst, with the team securing just 58 percent of opponents’ misses through their first three games. This marks a significant 13 percent drop from last season, when the Celtics ranked seventh in the NBA in defensive rebounding. With star forward Jayson Tatum sidelined indefinitely and the team leaning on single-big lineups, the issue shows no signs of resolving itself without serious intervention.
Celtics veteran Jaylen Brown didn’t mince words after the loss, taking responsibility for the team’s rebounding deficiencies while calling out the collective failure. “We got to figure that out,” Brown told reporters in Detroit, via NBC Sports Boston. “A lot of our issues, we can solve this on the defensive glass. I gotta get more involved. I got to get more rebounds. A lot of long shots lead to long rebounds, so just timing. Some of the shots keep bouncing over our head or some of those guys are pushing us underneath. Rebounding is the biggest issue for us right now.”
Brown, who managed just six rebounds against the Pistons, emphasized that addressing the rebounding problem is critical to fixing Boston’s broader defensive struggles. The team also struggled to keep Detroit off the free-throw line, where the Pistons attempted 36 shots, further exposing Boston’s lack of physicality. “I just really think the glass will solve a lot of our issues,” Brown added. “I have to figure out and get my body ready to use my athleticism to get some more rebounds, tip it out or something. Teams are beating us up on the glass, especially in the last three games.”
Head coach Joe Mazzulla echoed Brown’s urgency, stressing the need for greater toughness. “There’s ones that we have to get,” Mazzulla said. “We have to be physical, we have to be tougher, we have to get those.”
The Celtics face an immediate test as they take on the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday night, a team featuring one of the NBA’s premier offensive rebounders in Zion Williamson. If Boston hopes to snap their first three-game losing streak since 2023, they’ll need to heed Brown’s call to action and address their “unacceptable” rebounding flaw head-on. Failure to do so could cement their early-season struggles and raise bigger questions about this revamped roster’s ability to compete.