By playing shorthanded because of injuries, the Sixers also have been short on the glass.
Over the last two games they have been outrebounded by a combined 123 to 76 against the Wizards and Thunder. In each game, their opponents had three players rebounding in double-digits -- Marcin Gortat (13), John Wall (13) and Nene (11) for the Wizards; Russell Westbrook (15), Kevin Durant (13) Steven Adams (11) for the Thunder.
Without Jahlil Okafor (small meniscus tear), Robert Covington (concussion protocol) and Richaun Holmes (Achilles strain), the Sixers have been undersized fighting for boards.
“I think that we miss Covington coming in and getting some of those long rebounds,” Brett Brown said after Friday’s 111-97 loss to the Thunder. “We miss Richaun Holmes coming in. I think in general it’s an area that we have to get better in, but that common denominator on the last two nights in some ways doesn’t shock me.”
The Thunder are first in the NBA with 48.6 rebounds per game and a plus-8.4 differential. Their dominant 63 rebounds was not a surprise.
“If you look at Steven Adams and Collison and that group that they have, we’re small and we’re not thick,” Brown said. “We’re light right now. Nerlens is light, Jerami’s light. After that, you get into a bunch of guards and we played small. Carl’s the one physically that could get in there and do more. That is a lopsided number, but they are the best in the NBA.”
The Thunder outscored the Sixers 58 to 36 in the paint and 21 to 13 on second chance points.
NBA
“It makes things difficult on us,” Nerlens Noel said. “We have to rebound the ball. ... It puts us in a hole that is always tough to get out of. There’s no reason they should outrebound us by that much. I think if we did a little better job on the boards, there would have been less second chances.”
The Wizards, though, have not been a threat on the boards. In fact, they are tied for last in the league with the Sixers with 41.1 rebounds per game but pulled down 60 on Thursday. Even though the Sixers had the advantage in the paint (44 to 34) and on second chance points (14 to 8), missed rebounds are missed opportunities to score.
“We’re small,” Jerami Grant said. "We’re just trying to get everyone to come back in and gang rebound. Those are two great rebounding teams. Both teams play two bigs at the same time. … If you allow a team to get second chance points, chances are they are going to score, hit a three, or something like that. We’ve just got to come together as a team and figure out how to stop that.”
The Sixers next opponent is the Celtics, who rank sixth with 44.9 rebounds per game, on Sunday. In their first three meetings, the Celtics have outrebounded the Sixers by only three rebounds, 146 to 143.
During their matchups, though, Okafor averaged 7.3 rebounds (three games) and Covington averaged 11.0 (two games). The Sixers will have to rally together to make up for their absences on the boards.
“No matter what, if we’re low on bodies or whatever, obviously it’s a focal point of the game to be able to rebound the ball and send it the other way,” Noel said. “But I think we’ll touch on that and we’ll probably be better for Boston.”