Huge expectations remain for Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics. They have only two losses in seven games in the 2026-27 NBA season, but both defeats have exposed their main woes. Coach Joe Mazzulla is finding ways to patch these problems through their schemes and rotations. Meanwhile, the team has a consensus on what they need to fix. Tatum outlined what it was after getting decimated by the Houston Rockets, 109-93.
Tatum diagnoses Celtics' main early season struggles
The Celtics had a chance to tie the Pistons for the second seed in the Eastern Conference entering their seventh game of the season. However, they were clearly not equipped to face the league-leading Rockets. Coach Mazzulla saw all his players score under 20 points. Even Jayson Tatum struggled against Marcus Smart and Amen Thompson, scoring only 19 points on 31.25% from the field and 0.059% from three.
The Celtics clearly had a lot of holes in their scheme in this game against the Rockets. However, Tatum and Co. are not treating this as a one-game blunder. Instead, they see symptoms of bad habits and schemes that need long-term work. The Celtics superstar called out what they needed to work on after the Rockets loss, via Jay King.
"There were a bunch of little things that contributed. It really was just the offensive rebounds, just giving them second- and third-chance opportunities. Eventually, they are going to hit a shot," Tatum declared.
The Celtics led with 13 offensive rebounds to the Rockets' nine. However, they were underperforming under their own standards. Before this loss to the Rockets, they grabbed only 14 offensive rebounds against the Orlando Magic and nine against the Chicago Bulls. All of this is a blow for the Celtics because offensive rebounding was the main thing they were trying to fix this offseason.
Rockets keep mixing in inverted P&R for Amen Thompson. Got to it here in transition. Right wing is empty but notice FVV. Sees the gap Tatum is giving, gets all the way under to make it look more like a step up before slipping. No switch, Amen turns the corner and finishes https://t.co/2EhIfPU2KJ
— Steve Jones (@stevejones20) November 3, 2026Coach Mazzulla and Brad Stevens specifically brought in Mitchell Robinson, who had a career-high 23.9% offensive rebound percentage, to fix their woes on the boards. However, even the recent NBA champion saw his offensive rebounding percentage drop to 10.9%. The Celtics even saw their defensive rebound percentage sink to 27th in the league at 69%.
Rebounding is the crux of this Celtics team if they want to contend for the Larry O'Brien trophy. Tatum and Coach Mazzulla have already worked through other pitfalls together to keep the Celtics in the title mix. There is no doubt they can work through this issue after the loss to the Rockets.
