Boston Celtics: 3 takeaways from Game 1 vs. Pacers
By Joe Hagen
2. Rebounds, rebounds, rebounds
It’s weird being a Boston Celtics fan and banking on the team’s ability to rebound as a means to win games. Not since the days of Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins did it feel like the Celtics were capable of dominating the glass.
Yet, here we are. With a unit of two bigs in Aron Baynes and Al Horford, the Celtics can legitimately count on their ability to crash the glass as an advantage this series. The bigs have their hands full down low in this series, dealing with skyscrapers Myles Turner and Domantas Sabonis, as well as the scrappy Thaddeus Young, but their rebounding will be a key factor to controlling this series.
All season, Boston has fared well in rebounding against the Pacers. While regular season certainly goes out the window and it’s a brand new set of games during the postseason, the Celtics need to feel good about their rebounding personnel vs. Indiana’s.
They got a solid rebounding effort from their entire team. Not only did they win the rebounding battle by an impressive 13 boards, they got contributions across the board from a variety of positions. Horford and Baynes combined for 20 rebounds, Kyrie Irving and Jaylen Brown each added five as well and Gordon Hayward and Marcus Morris both had seven off the bench.
Boston needs to control the pace in these games. Indiana simply does not have the offensive firepower to get consistent buckets in the half court against Boston, so it’ll have to turn to getting out and running in the transition. By securing the boards and by default, the pace, Boston can force the Pacers into a style of play that does not suit them for this series.