Daniel Theis & the Celtics insane rebounding

Last night against the Sacramento Kings, Daniel Theis had a double-double in only 18 minutes of play. He tallied 10 points, 10 rebounds and one block. He shot four-of-seven from the floor and two-of-two from the free throw line. The Celtics hauled down a total of 52 rebounds and here are the leaders:

Daniel Theis: 10 in 18 minutes
Aron Baynes: nine in 22 minutes
Al Horford: seven
Jaylen Brown: six
Shane Larkin five in eight minutes
Jayson Tatum: four

I continue to be surprised by Theis. As I have previously written, he is a natural rebounder, a bit like Dave Cowens in that respect. If his minutes had been roughly doubled last night, he might have had 20 rebounds. But Daniel is far from a one-dimensional player. He is quick on defense, and he can block shots. And he can score in close and from distance. He will only keep getting better as he adapts to the NBA game.





Boston is currently in fourth place in total rebounds, behind Charlotte, Portland and Houston. They are in sixth place in average rebounds per game with 47.1 boards. Everybody on the team is helping out on the boards. Larkin grabbed five in only eight minutes of play. Guerschon Yabusele hauled down three rebounds in six minutes. That is dedication to the task at hand. Coach Brad Stevens is a master at the deployment of his troops. And Danny Ainge and his scouts have become extremely adept at identifying and acquiring talent.



Last season the Celtics rebounding was terrible. They were ranked 26th in that category. Looks like that problem has been fixed. Rebounding is desire and hustle. If you look at the rebounds per minute for Theis, Baynes, Larkin and Yabu, you can see the rebounding efficiency. It appears that all of the players work at the task, and the rebound numbers show it. Is there anything that this Boston team can't do well, and is there anything they can't achieve this season? This team is damn good.

Follow Tom at @TomLaneHC

Photo via Michael Dwyer/AP Photo





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