Boston Celtics starting center Daniel Theis grabbed a playoff career high 15 rebounds against the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals series, with his role in corralling errant shots growing considerably against the Raptors, who like to run in transition.
“It’s a pretty important part of defense,” explained Theis.
The transition-oriented offense of Toronto plays a big role in the German big man’s shift in use against the Raptors.
Theis’ role as a rebounder has grown in this series, with the rest of the team expected to get back on defense at a much faster speed than was needed against the Philadelphia 76ers in the first round.
Stevens: Cs play to strengths, ‘not trying to replace’ Hayward vs Raps https://t.co/woUellRiDc
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 31, 2020
“It’s a different series than against Philadelphia,” noted the Salzgitter native.
“I was down there almost the whole time. I was scouting [Joel Embiid] and boxing him out, and other guys can grab the rebound. In this series right now, I have a chance to just grab rebounds soon so we can play fast, but overall, I don’t care about the stats at the end. Obviously, it feels good, but we have to win.”
“We played great defense, with a lot of turnovers, I think,” he added. “We can play better in Game 2.”
Celtics fossilize Raptors’ offense, win 112-94 to take 1-0 series lead https://t.co/mInpN9yjGI
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) August 30, 2020
The Celtics will need to to come away with a 2-0 series lead, as it is exceedingly unlikely the Raptors will get into foul trouble so early, or miss so many shots.
Collectively, Boston held the defending NBA champions to just 25% shooting from beyond the arc and 36.9% overall; Boston’s defense is good, but probably not that good.
Expect a coach of Nick Nurse’s caliber to counter with something that should give his team a better shot on Tuesday — and expect the Celtics to break out a few new twists of their own.
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