Strange, but good fact if true

[colincb]

Would love to have some advanced stat resources like the teams do. Wonder where this guy (Radio voice of Utah Jazz) got this nugget:

David Locke @Lockedonsports

In games within 3 points in the final 5 minutes the Boston Celtics are the #1 offensive rebounding and #1 defensive rebounding team

Marcus Smart was offered as a possible explanation in response.

[CelticsFan166]

Whoa. That's crazy.

I think the reason is that many of the league's best rebounders (Jordan, Drummond, Gobert, Capela) are horrible free throw shooters and are often pulled in the final minutes due to the "hack-a" strategy. Meanwhile all of our best rebounders (such that they are lol) can shoot at least decently and thus are left in.

[GRADYCOLNON]

I think the game changes to more halfcourt for both teams.  Gaining possession of the ball becomes more important strategy for the Celtics than protecting against transition offense so players like Marcus Smart get more involved.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Do NOT tell Danny about this.

[Dannys Chipotle Guy]

I think the game changes to more halfcourt for both teams.  Gaining possession of the ball becomes more important strategy for the Celtics than protecting against transition offense so players like Marcus Smart get more involved.

Im not surprised about the offensive rebounds. I think a lot of that can be attributed to Marcus and Jonas, who do a terrific job keeping rebounds alive.

Defensive rebounding surprises me. Perhaps, opposing teams place a priority on getting back on D, forcing us to beat them in the half court rather than exposing themselves to transition buckets, where thomas is lethal.

[CelticsBR]

Whoa. That's crazy.

I think the reason is that many of the league's best rebounders (Jordan, Drummond, Gobert, Capela) are horrible free throw shooters and are often pulled in the final minutes due to the "hack-a" strategy. Meanwhile all of our best rebounders (such that they are lol) can shoot at least decently and thus are left in.

TP. I think this is a much needed counterpoint.

[Chris22]

Would love to have some advanced stat resources like the teams do. Wonder where this guy (Radio voice of Utah Jazz) got this nugget:

David Locke @Lockedonsports

In games within 3 points in the final 5 minutes the Boston Celtics are the #1 offensive rebounding and #1 defensive rebounding team

Marcus Smart was offered as a possible explanation in response.

Fear the Smart.

[LilRip]

When the game goes down the wire, Smart usually somehow ends up with the ball. Especially if it squirts loose.

[viulo]

i don't think it's true

http://stats.nba.com/teams/clutch-traditional#!?sort=REB&dir=-1&Season=2016-17&SeasonType=Regular%20Season

Numbers are better with rebounding percentage, but still...

http://stats.nba.com/teams/clutch-advanced/#!?sort=REB_PCT&dir=-1

Edit: My bad. Was looking for games within 5 points, not within 3 points

Here are the numbers

http://stats.nba.com/teams/clutch-advanced/#!?sort=DREB_PCT&dir=-1&Season=2016-17&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&PointDiff=3

[colincb]

i don't think it's true

http://stats.nba.com/teams/clutch-traditional#!?sort=REB&dir=-1&Season=2016-17&SeasonType=Regular%20Season

Numbers are better with rebounding percentage, but still...

http://stats.nba.com/teams/clutch-advanced/#!?sort=REB_PCT&dir=-1

Edit: My bad. Was looking for games within 5 points, not within 3 points

Here are the numbers

http://stats.nba.com/teams/clutch-advanced/#!?sort=DREB_PCT&dir=-1&Season=2016-17&SeasonType=Regular%20Season&PointDiff=3

TP and thanks for the stats crunching.

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

A ton of noise here, but I think with the prevalence of 3 point shooting centers the ability of guards to rebound is super important.

A guy like Smart seems like the prototypical "squirrel" level rebound chaser, which is definitely really valuable.

[flybono]

What a joke stat. Wins and losses please. Vs. the elite this Team is far below .500

[chilidawg]

What a joke stat. Wins and losses please. Vs. the elite this Team is far below .500

19 and 8 in games within 3 points.  5th best record in the league.  Wins against the Rockets, Jazz and Raptors of late.  9-1 in our last 10.  You could argue that we haven't beaten the teams above us in the standings, but the upside of that is that there aren't very many teams above us to beat.

Some people are never happy.

[Ilikesports17]

What a joke stat. Wins and losses please. Vs. the elite this Team is far below .500

vs. .500 and above teams we are 11-12 which is second best in the East and the 4th best such record in the entire NBA (behind Cle, GSW, and SAS).

Against elite teams our record is pretty bad, but who qualifies as elite?

I mean if LAC qualifies we are 1-0 vs. them. If Utah qualifies, we are 3-0 against them(I think). If Houston qualifies we are 1-1 vs. them. If its just GSW, SAS, and Cle then we are winless (0-5 I think), but no one is under the illusion that we are as good as those teams. They only have 36 losses between the 3 of them!

Edit: Memphis, who weve beaten a few times is also better than us vs. 500+ teams. So we are 5th best in the NBA vs. such teams.

[Darío SpanishFan]

What a joke stat. Wins and losses please. Vs. the elite this Team is far below .500

19 and 8 in games within 3 points.  5th best record in the league.  Wins against the Rockets, Jazz and Raptors of late.  9-1 in our last 10.  You could argue that we haven't beaten the teams above us in the standings, but the upside of that is that there aren't very many teams above us to beat.

Some people are never happy.

Excellent, optimistic, realistic, TP. I wonder what would happen to some of these fans if we had been tanking like the Sixers or years and years of mediocrity barely making/missing the playoff.

And don't forget our position regarding the next drafts