It all comes down to rebounding

[Moranis]

Even without Thompson the Cavs out rebounded the Celtics by 13.  This has been a consistent problem all season long and it doesnt seem likely that it will be fixed with the current team.  In order to overcome the clear rebounding deficiency Boston needs to be near perfect offensively against the better teams in the league.

[tenn_smoothie]

Absolutely spot on.

This team has to work so hard to win games and we just give away points in bunches from the offensive boards. Our 4 & 5, Horford and Johnson (at a combined 38M per) took down 10 rebounds COMBINED tonite. Horford rarely gets contested rebounds in traffic. Not strong enough, not tough enough. Same for Johnson. I sure hope the two European stashes can play. We need size. I'm sick of this small ball stuff.

I'm looking at things long term though. Don't panic and make some stupid trade or free agent signing this summer as a rebounding bandaid. I think Horford needs some quality size around him to be more effective - unfortunately, Johnson ain't the answer. Keep our draft picks and look for quality additions. this team's chemistry is too good to mess with and we have some championship pieces already on board.

Having said all that, I sure do long for the days of Cowens and Silas sometimes.

[Clench123]

Something the head honcho thought isn't important

Danny Ainge over a month ago:  “When you just add a rebounder, and he hurts your offense, it defeats the purpose,” Ainge told 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher & Rich,” as aired on CSN New England. “A rebounder will just be sitting on your bench. We have players that are more skilled, and we play around our strengths. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when we added Al Horford this year — and this is nothing to take away from Isaiah (Thomas) and Avery (Bradley), because they’re fantastic players — but I think that Al’s presence makes those guys all better.”

"When you just add a rebounder, and he hurts your offense"

Lol.  We have an offense?  Oh, I forgot, IT.

“A rebounder will just be sitting on your bench."

Yea, that's where someone like Cousins belong...on the bench

"We have players that are more skilled, and we play around our strengths."

Bwahahahahahahahahaha

"I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when we added Al Horford this year"

No, Danny, it's not a coincidence, only one of your "brilliant" gambling ploy to lure KD to signing.  Only that it failed.  Now we're stuck with a 30 year old PF/C making 26 million dollars only to average 14 points and 6 rebounds, if that.

"this is nothing to take away from Isaiah (Thomas) and Avery (Bradley), because they’re fantastic players"   

Notice they are fantastic players and not stars

"but I think that Al’s presence makes those guys all better.”

I'd give him this at least

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Even without Thompson the Cavs out rebounded the Celtics by 13.  This has been a consistent problem all season long and it does that seem likely that it will be fixed with the current team.  In order to overcome the clear rebounding deficiency Boston needs to be near perfect offensively against the better teams in the league.

If your premise is true, the Boston Celtics may never again win a title—at least, not while Ainge is GM. He's in love with combo guards and undersized bigs. Plus, for all the buzz about small ball, it's always the teams with great size that win in the playoffs—unless you have LeBron, which we don't.

[Clench123]

To put things in perspective we haven't had a real talented center since Kendrick Perkins and he prematurely traded him away for sleep-jim Jeff Green.

Anybody remember Greg Stiemsma, Darko, Jermaine O'neal, and those other great Centers we've had?  LOL

Yea, Danny is a genius 

[Clench123]

Now we have Yabusele who will come through and make things alright....Oh....yea....

Our Ivy league genius, Danny The Ainge!

[droopdog7]

To put things in perspective we haven't had a real talented center since Kendrick Perkins and he prematurely traded him away for sleep-jim Jeff Green.

Anybody remember Greg Stiemsma, Darko, Jermaine O'neal, and those other great Centers we've had?  LOL

Yea, Danny is a genius 

Perk was not a bad player but I'd hardly call him a real talented center.  What Danny is suggesting is that centers that can shore up rebounding and not hurt your offense are rare and expensive.  So more than likely, getting a rebounder will hurt your offense.  Pretty much someone like Perk.  I don't disagree.

[The Oracle]

To put things in perspective we haven't had a real talented center since Kendrick Perkins and he prematurely traded him away for sleep-jim Jeff Green.

Anybody remember Greg Stiemsma, Darko, Jermaine O'neal, and those other great Centers we've had?  LOL

Yea, Danny is a genius 

Perk was not a bad player but I'd hardly call him a real talented center.  What Danny is suggesting is that centers that can shore up rebounding and not hurt your offense are rare and expensive.  So more than likely, getting a rebounder will hurt your offense.  Pretty much someone like Perk.  I don't disagree.

Just who would Perkins have been defending tonight??  Love? Frye?  He would be terribly ineffective most nights and would stifle the offense every night.  There is very good reason that all traditional aircraft carrier big men are getting run right out of the league.  Imagine Perk defending the high pick n roll or defending Lebron or Kyrie on a switch. 

Rebounding was not even a factor against the Cavs.  They had 13 2nd chance points and the C's had 12.  Danny isn't wrong with what he said at all!

[Chris22]

We missed our threes.

[trickybilly]

Avery, Marcus, Jaylen: 3/23 from the floor

That probably doesn't happen again.

Agree rebounding will kills us unless Al/KO/Amir really focus on blocking out every single time in the playoffs.

[LGC88]

Just who would Perkins have been defending tonight??  Love? Frye?  He would be terribly ineffective most nights and would stifle the offense every night.  There is very good reason that all traditional aircraft carrier big men are getting run right out of the league.  Imagine Perk defending the high pick n roll or defending Lebron or Kyrie on a switch. 

Rebounding was not even a factor against the Cavs.  They had 13 2nd chance points and the C's had 12.  Danny isn't wrong with what he said at all!

TP
I wonder how many times this (above) has to be repeated before it finally sets in the mind of the fans.
At this point, it's stubbornness or denial of modern basketball.

[iadera]

After this game (probably even before) one thing is now definitely crystal clear. No.1 seed would mean nothing to us if we talk about clash with Cavs.
My best scenario prediction is that we reach the EC finals and end the season with not being swept.

[jbpats]

It's hard to criticize Ainge because he has put us in an amazing position, that being a top 4 team in the East with a last place in the NBA draft position for the next few years..
That being said his stand pat attitude is a bit tiresome. Rebounding has been an issue all season, we have a treasure trove of draft picks that to us are valueless, we simply don't have the roster space to keep all these guys. He really should have addressed the problem at the deadline.
The player that I feel he REALLY dropped the ball on was Jusuf Nurkic, he could have been had for pennies on the dollar, he is on a bargain contract, and is young. There would have been no long term cap space issues if we wanted to get a max player this off season. Why he didn't trade something for him is beyond me.

[Big333223]

Rebounding is still an issue, yes, but a lot of the Cavs offensive boards came off of broken defensive plays where no one was where they should be when the shot went up so there was always a couple of Cavaliers loose to attack the glass. That's solvable defensive execution.

Last night was more about defense to me. The rebounding disadvantage can be leveled some by creating turnovers. Last night, the Cavs had only 10 turnovers and I think they only had 2 or 3 in the first half. The Celtics played p--- poor defense, got no transition offense, and that threw everything else out of rhythm (i.e. all the missed jumpers).

[Spilling Green Dye]

Imagine you watched last night's game, but instead of seeing Amir Johnson in the middle you saw Demarcus Cousins.  How many offensive rebounds, easy dunks, etc. would the Cavs have gotten?  MUCH LESS.  And that's not even favoring in the offensive benefits he'd have provided.   I'm not going to criticize Ainge for not trading for Paul George or Butler, and am very happy with the direction of the team.  But I do think that Cousins was the missing link that was worth trading for.

Sadly the rebounding (or lack there of) goes beyond just talent and size, but execution.  I counted dozens of times that Olynk, Amir, Crowder, etc. just stood there 5 feet from the hoop as a shot went up and gave up an Offensive rebound because they didn't box anyone out.  That aspect was a pathetic show of fundamentals.