Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has harped on defensive rebounding this preseason.
Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla has harped on defensive rebounding this preseason.Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff
All three of the Celtics’ opponents this preseason sat their main rotation players. Boston has mostly controlled play, the lone blip coming during the Raptors’ ferocious fourth-quarter comeback crafted primarily against Celtics lineups filled with players who will not be part of the 15-man roster.
Still, the Celtics have done little to quell concerns surrounding an area in which they could be vulnerable. Despite facing opposing teams’ backups, Boston has struggled to gather defensive rebounds.
Through three games, the Celtics have gathered just 64.3 percent of available defensive rebounds. That would have ranked last in the NBA last season by 3.5 percentage points.
Yes, these percentages were registered in games that do not count, but they also have come against inferior competition. Players have said that coach Joe Mazzulla has harped on the issue, and they acknowledged that he has pulled them from games simply for failing to box out on a possession.
“[We just need to] box out, honestly,” forward Xavier Tillman said. “As funny as it may seem, if you actually sat and watched the games and watched a shot go up and the team got an offensive rebound, the majority of the time one of us is just staring at the ball versus actually finding your man, hitting your man, and then going and getting the ball. So, it’s more intentional versus any skill or anything like that.”
Tillman said he believes the team is making progress at that end of the floor, and that Mazzulla’s rebound-or-else approach has had an impact.
“Just do the work,” said forward Chris Boucher. “I think that’s something where you’ve got to look yourself in the mirror and accept that I’ve got to do my job and box out if they say box out, jump high if they say jump high, put in more work in the weight room if you’ve got to get stronger. Whatever it is, we’ve got to find a way to get those rebounds, and it’s very possible if we put in the effort and emphasis on it.”
One (more) and done
The Celtics will wrap up their preseason slate with Wednesday’s home game against the Raptors. Mazzulla, for one, will be happy to move on.
“I’d rather have no preseason games and practice every day,” he said. “I hate preseason games. You should just have practice for a month straight.”
Mazzulla said he tries to simply treat these exhibitions as practices rather than competitions.
“The idea is to try to make the preseason game as close to practice as you can, because you’re always going through things, you know?” he said. “Who’s on a minutes restriction? Who may be sitting out trying to save yourself for the regular season? You know, all those things which are important, but yeah, we should just have like 30 practices before the game.”
Whatever you need
Boucher started at center in Sunday’s win over the Cavaliers in place of Neemias Queta, who entered the game in the second quarter.
The 6-foot-9-inch Boucher, who has played power forward most of his career, can help the Celtics space the floor following the departures of 3-point-shooting big men Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford.
“I’m really focused on helping this team whatever position I’m in, and just do what I can to be disruptive or be able to speed up the game whenever we need it during the game,” Boucher said. “Obviously, we’ve got a lot of players that can do a lot of things at their position, and we’ve all got to be able to fill out the role.”
Cleared to play
Forward Jordan Walsh, who missed the last two preseason games because of adductor soreness, took part in Tuesday’s practice and has been cleared to return Wednesday, Mazzulla said.
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.