BOSTON — Forty years in the past, the Boston Celtics misplaced Recreation 1 of the 1984 Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers on the outdated Boston Backyard, roughly 100 yards away from, and about three tales beneath, the place the franchise received Recreation 1 of the 2024 Finals at TD Backyard on Thursday.
Hollywood lately informed the story of that epic seven-game collection, full with the Lakers operating immediately from the ground to the bus of their uniforms after that specific win to flee the rowdy Boston followers. However not every part from “Profitable Time” was based mostly on true occasions. The Lakers did not really run out of the world. In truth, legendary Lakers coach Pat Riley even gave an interview earlier than he left.
“No rebounds,” Riley mentioned after the gritty 115-109 win, “no rings.”
The best way at present’s Celtics play might need mystified gamers of that technology. On Thursday evening, the 2024 Celtics took extra 3-pointers within the first half (27) than the 1984 Celtics took within the seven Finals video games mixed (24). The 1984 Finals was the collection the place Kevin McHale infamously clotheslined Kurt Rambis, and Larry Chicken insulted his teammates by saying, “We performed like sissies.”
Lots has modified over the many years, however some issues do not. Riley’s quote has change into well-known for a purpose: It is true. The Celtics ended up with 30 extra rebounds within the 1984 Finals than the Lakers, and so they received Recreation 7 largely as a result of they crushed L.A. on the boards by 19.
Or, because the extra modern-day thinker Kawhi Leonard as soon as mentioned, “Board man will get paid.”
Rebounding is a crucial a part of Boston’s modern-day dominance, even when it would not get a lot credit score. In Recreation 1, Boston outrebounded the Dallas Mavericks by 10 within the first quarter alone, serving to construct what proved to be an insurmountable 17-point lead.
The Celtics are the No. 1 rebounding crew within the playoffs, grabbing nearly 54% of accessible boards. Through the common season they had been fifth within the league, getting 51.5%. There are quite a lot of causes the Celtics are 13-2 within the playoffs; outrebounding their opponents by a complete of 87 in these 15 video games is a major one.
“We have got to rebound, we have to dash again, we have to play protection, take note of element,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla mentioned earlier than the Recreation 1 win. “Now we have to execute, we have now to crash. We have got to play exhausting … the issues that can go into profitable this collection aren’t any totally different than the issues that we talked about in preseason: habits, mindset, particulars, execution.”
“No rebounds, no rings” is extra succinct. However the level is similar, generations aside.
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It would even be becoming for a crew that appears to have been missed and underappreciated for many of the season that its old-fashioned strategy to one of many recreation’s primary tenets barely registers, and that extends to its franchise participant.
Jayson Tatum tends to attract criticism for his typically up-and-down playoff output. It’s true that he has been identified to have an premature dangerous capturing recreation, to get a bit of passive in clutch moments and typically to get a bit of unfastened with the ball; in actual fact he had six turnovers in Recreation 1.
What would not obtain correct consideration is how Tatum morphs right into a rebounding demon within the postseason throughout his profession. He has led the Celtics in rebounding over the previous two common seasons, averaging 8.4 per recreation in that span. This season his 8.1 rebounds tied for twenty fifth finest within the NBA. Good numbers, however nothing like what he has achieved within the playoffs.
Tatum has averaged 10-plus rebounds in every of his previous six playoff collection, and he is off to a great begin in these Finals, flattening a game-high 11 within the Recreation 1 victory. Within the playoffs, he is seventh in rebounds per recreation at 10.4 and third in whole boards, behind solely Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic.
That is a significant a part of Tatum’s job as a result of the Celtics typically assign him to the opponent’s heart, conserving Kristaps Porzingis out of the principle actions of their pick-and-roll protection and permitting the large man to deal with assist protection.
“The blokes I am chasing or I like like Larry Chicken, he was among the best rebounders within the NBA,” Tatum mentioned in an interview with NBC Sports activities Boston this week. “It is eager to do all of it. Joe [Mazzulla] at all times challenges me to dominate and it is not about scoring 30 or 40 factors, however my impression on the sport.”
Rebounds are particularly vital for the Celtics as a result of they undergo cycles the place they’ve turnover points, which makes the boards a approach they’ll wrestle again management of the possession recreation. Additionally they fireplace up large numbers of 3-pointers — 39.9 per recreation within the playoffs, by far probably the most within the NBA — resulting in lengthy rebounds that may compromise their protection, which is why Mazzulla stresses crashing the glass for everybody on the ground.
The Mavericks, in distinction, had been a bottom-five crew in rebounding share throughout the common season, although they have been higher within the playoffs. Largely due to Doncic’s relentless play and their improved heart rotation with Dereck Vigorous II and Daniel Gafford, the Mavericks rank sixth amongst playoff groups in rebounding share.
However rebounding stays a Celtics energy and an space the place Tatum, who has made a season-long effort to contribute in additional methods than simply scoring, has an edge. And so they understand it, even when it is not a speaking level.
“The hardest crew will win,” Mazzulla mentioned. “The crew that makes probably the most performs will win. The crew that may execute the small print at a excessive stage will win.”