NBA standings ordered by rebounding: Kevon Looney and Draymond Green help the Warriors crash the boards

A season ago, not a single team recorded more rebounds than the Golden State Warriors, who grabbed a total of 3,830 boards, thus averaging 46.7 per game, 34.6 coming on the defensive end and the other 12.1 coming on the offensive glass.

But while the Warriors are actually averaging more rebounds per game over the first quarter of this 2024-25 NBA season, they're not the top team in the league in this regard but are a close second.

Here's a quick look at the top five teams in total rebounding thus far.

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1. Houston Rockets

The top rebounding team in the NBA at this point is the Houston Rockets, who are averaging 50.1 per game during their 15-7 start.

Houston is tied with the Warriors at the top of the defensive rebounding leaderboard with 35.7 per game and leads the league on their own in offensive rebounding, pulling down 14.4 per night.

Leading the charge for the Rockets in this regard is center Alperen Sengun, whose 10.7 per game are good for ninth among all NBA players. Sengun is one of six Houston players averaging more than six rebounds per game, the other three being Amen Thompson (6.9), Jabari Smith Jr. (6.8), and Tari Eason (6.5).

2. Golden State Warriors

Sitting in close second are the Warriors, who have averaged 49.0 rebounds per game during their 12-8 start. As mentioned above, the Dubs are tied with the Rockets in defensive rebounding with 35.7 per game, with the remaining 13.3 coming on the offensive end, the latter good for a tie for fourth.

While one would likely think Golden State's individual rebounding leader would be franchise cornerstone Draymond Green, that's not the case. The five-time All-Star does rank second with 6.2 per game, but it's interesting to note that this marks his lowest average since 2018-19, when he held the same 6.2 average.

The Warriors' rebounding leader at this time is backup center Kevon Looney, who's pulling down 7.8 in just 15.5 minutes per game. The only other two Golden State players averaging more than five are Steph Curry (5.6) and Trayce Jackson-Davis (5.2).

3. Memphis Grizzlies

Coming in third are the Memphis Grizzlies, who have recorded 47.5 rebounds per game during their 14-8 start, 35.1 on the defensive side and 12.4 on the offensive end.

The Grizzlies are a lot like the Warriors in that they don't have one main guy crashing the boards. Instead, they've got several players racking up three, four, or five per game to get the overall total to where it is.

The leading rebounder for Memphis at this time is Santi Aldama, who's pulling down 7.5 per game, and he's followed by rookie center Zach Edey (6.9), Desmond Bane (6.1), and Jaren Jackson Jr. (6.0), and Brandon Clarke (4.7).

4. Toronto Raptors

Sitting in fourth are the 7-15 Toronto Raptors, who are averaging 46.1 rebounds per game thus far, 32.7 on the defensive end and 13.5 on the offensive glass, the latter figure being good for solo second behind only the Rockets.

Center Jakob Poeltl is easily Toronto's team leader in rebounding with 11.8, which ranks him fifth in the league behind only Karl-Anthony Towns (13.1), Nikola Jokic (13.0), Domantas Sabonis (12.6), and Ivica Zubac (12.3).

Scottie Barnes (8.5), RJ Barrett (6.5), Ochai Agbaji (4.5), and Chris Boucher (4.4) round out the Raptors' top five.

5. Detroit Pistons

The Detroit Pistons rank fifth in the NBA in rebounding with 46.0 per game (34.5 defensive, 11.5 offensive) and are another team that racks up boards by committee instead of relying a lot on one player.

For proof, look no further than the fact that Detroit's leader in rebounding right now, center Jalen Duren, averages just 6.3 per game. Following him are Cade Cunningham (6.0), Tobias Harris (5.9), Isaiah Stewart (3.9), and Jaden Ivey (2.9).