This is a story that Mavs fans have become very familiar with in past seasons. The team was unable to win a game due to their inability to box, whether due to lack of size or the effort of all five players on the court. Unfortunately for fans, this was supposed to be a problem of the past for Dallas after acquiring Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford in respective trades.
Throughout the playoffs, Dallas was able to outrebound any team regardless of their regular season stats and court size. The Mavericks dominated the Timberwolves in the Conference Finals in part because of their ability to outrebound what was thought to be a great rebounding team. However, against the Celtics, Dallas was not only outrebounded on both ends of the floor, but also outscored in the process.
The Celtics guards were able to easily penetrate the paint and get open looks at the basket or grab timely rebounds on rare Celtics misses. It also didn’t help that Derrick White and Jrue Holiday were able to make easy cuts in the paint to deter any Maverick rebound chances.
Aside from Dallas’ only win in the series, which came in Game 4 on their own court, Boston outrebounded the Mavericks in both offensive and defensive categories. It wasn’t just that the Celtics were bigger and faster when they were on the court, but part of it had to deal with the Mavericks’ lack of attention when blocking smaller guards.
This could easily have been a matter of effort as the Mavericks lost hope after falling 3-0 in the series, but it was clear that Boston came to play and embarrass Dallas any way they could. Despite this, it’s not a particular reason why the Mavericks should make a million moves for guys who can box out and show effort on both ends of the floor, as the Mavericks were a great rebounding team after the deadline of changes.
During the offseason and when the Mavericks open training camp in a couple of months, this will likely be a big training point for Kidd and his staff.
