Knicks know they need to address lingering rebounding issue in a hurry

This isn’t a new issue for the Knicks.They struggled with containing offensive rebounding last round, too, but the Celtics taking — and missing — so many shots the opening two games has magnified it. Entering Saturday’s Game 3 at the Garden, with the Knicks holding a 2-0 lead in their conference semifinal series, Boston has collected 35 offensive rebounds and possesses a 13-rebound advantage in that category, even with Mitchell Robinson, Josh Hart and Karl-Anthony Towns all healthy.The Knicks hold the lowest defensive rebounding percentage among the four remaining Eastern Conference teams (66.3) and the seventh-lowest among the eight remaining teams in the postseason. Somehow, they’ve avoided disaster.

The Celtics have only collected a plus-13 margin in second-chance points.But it’s an area the Knicks know they need to clean up, one of the mistakes they can only get away with against the defending champions for so long. “I feel like they’ve been getting to the offensive boards quick and so we are aware of that,” Jalen Brunson said after the Knicks practiced Friday in Tarrytown, “but it’s a different thing in-game when in-game they are taking a lot of long shots and a lot of long rebounds.

The natural thing to do is to go in around the restricted area, but with long shots, we have to not be as far in the restricted area.” The Pistons collected more offensive rebounds than the Knicks in four of their six first-round games, and the Celtics’ five-out offense added another wrinkle.Smaller players in their lineup can get a “running start” from the perimeter, coach Tom Thibodeau said.

The Knicks need to shake their habit of ending up so close to the restricted area when crashing the basket, Brunson said — and given how the Celtics have rebounded, he acknowledged, “It’s something we have to adjust to quickly.” Sports+ subscribers: Sign up for Inside the Knicks to get daily newsletter coverage and join Expert Take for insider tex...