Chandler Shoulders Blame For Game One Rebounding Struggles

Tyson Chandler is looking to regain control of the boards in game two.

Tyson Chandler takes personal responsibility for the Dallas Mavericks’ struggles on the boards in the series opening loss on Tuesday, but that’s not the only area that he sees room for personal improvement moving into game two. In the way the Heat have chose to guard Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry, Chandler believes he has a greater chance at contributing on the offensive end, which he didn’t really capitalize on on Tuesday.

"I plan on it tonight," Chandler said Thursday, per ESPN Dallas. "What they do is they bring a big, but they rotate either LeBron, Dwayne [Wade] or one of those guys back in front of me to try to take it away. But I've got to make whoever's in front of me ... I've got to make 'em pay, whether it's a big or small or whoever it is."

Rebounding, however, remains Chandler’s greatest task as the team’s starting center and team leader in rebounding for the playoffs, with an average of nine per game. After the Mavs were outrebounded 46-36 by Miami in game one, he put a good deal of weight on his own shoulders.

"I've got to control the paint," said Chandler. "I've got to take a lot of that blame for being outrebounded. It just is what it is. As a big guy, you've got to put that on your shoulders, regardless of the rotation or regardless of the situation.

"I've got to go out there tonight and make sure that we get every rebound."

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