In the five games (including the Game 1 win) against the Boston Celtics this year, the Chicago Bulls have pounded Boston on the glass. Let’s take a look at the numbers.
Over the previous five games against the Boston Celtics this year (that includes Sunday night’s Game 1 upset of the Eastern Conference’s top seed), the Chicago Bulls have out-rebounded the Celtics, 248-187.
In those five games, the Bulls have pulled down no lower than 40 total rebounds in each game and logged nothing short of a 23.5 offensive rebound percentage. (Offensive rebound percentage is the percentage of missed shots a team grabs on their end of the floor.)
Sure, Taj Gibson played and started in three of those five meetings and grabbed 28 total rebounds as the Bulls went 2-1 in those three games. Gibson averaged seven rebounds per contest before the Bulls traded him to the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the trend continued on Sunday for the Bulls.
Despite a 20-point loss for the Bulls during their five-game losing streak back in the month of March to the Celtics (51 total rebounds) without Gibson on the floor, they still grabbed 40 rebounds in a game (with a 23.5 OREB%) where they scored just nine points in the first quarter.
On Sunday night in the 106-102 win for the Bulls, they grabbed 59.6 percent (!) of the total rebounds, including 20 (!!) on the offensive end alone.
To further sum things up for the Bulls’ dominance against Boston, the Celtics had 12 offensive rebounds in Game 1. Robin Lopez had eight of the Bulls’ 20 offensive rebounds by himself.
Here’s a full look at the Bulls and Celtics on the glass prior to Game 2 on Tuesday night in Boston, which includes the averages of the two teams on the glass through the four regular season games and Game 1.
| Team | Offensive Rebounds | Defensive Rebounds | Offensive Rebound Percentage | Defensive Rebound Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago | 80 | 168 | 34.82% | 80.62% |
| Boston | 41 | 152 | 19.38% | 65.18% |
So basically, the Bulls’ 80.62 DREB% would put them second in the entire NBA behind only the Detroit Pistons (81.2 percent) if they just played the Celtics. They were 11th in the NBA this season (76.8 percent) in that category.
On the offensive end, the 34.82 OREB% for the Bulls would put them almost seven full percentage points ahead of the Thunder’s 28.0 OREB% this season. That’s how dominant the Bulls have been on the glass against Boston. (Their overall OREB% was 27.0, which was good for fourth in the NBA this season.)
It’s no secret that the Bulls’ best offense outside of Jimmy Butler being a legitimate All-NBA player has been a missed shot. The more the coaching staff changes, the more it stays the same, eh?
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The Bulls’ girth and muscle up front remains despite Gibson’s departure. Lopez was awesome in Game 1, scoring 14 points to go along with 11 total rebounds on Sunday night.
17 of those 53 rebounds for the Bulls came the front bench, including nine from Bobby Portis, who stole the show with Butler and scored 19 points in over 29 minutes of action.
There’s still a long way to go for the Bulls. Regular season statistics and one game don’t win a series.
Next: Jimmy Butler: fourth quarter monster, franchise player
But, if the Bulls maintain their continued dominance on the glass (as they appeared that they will), this series is going to potentially be much more competitive than many believed before Sunday.