DALLAS -- Terrible rebounding teams do not win NBA titles.

That’s not a trend that the Dallas Mavericks expect to end this season. In other words, they recognize the need to make major strides in the rebounding department.

However, the Mavs currently rank 29th in the NBA in defensive rebounding percentage (71.8) and 27th in rebounding margin (minus-2.7). To put that in perspective, 13 of the last 15 NBA champions ranked in the top 10 in one of those categories, including eight in both. The 2012-13 Miami Heat are the only title team in that span to rank in the bottom third in either of those categories, finishing 23rd in defensive rebounding percentage.

“If we can’t be at least even with teams on the boards, it just heightens the challenge so much,” coach Rick Carlisle said. “It just makes it really difficult.”

The Mavs have one of the best rebounding big men in the NBA. Tyson Chandler ranks third in the league with 12.1 rebounds per game. But he needs much more help than he’s been getting on a regular basis.

That’s especially true against teams that feature big, physical frontcourts. Case in point: The Detroit Pistons, who dominated the Mavs by a 60-43 rebounding margin in Dallas’ home loss Wednesday.

“We’ve just got to focus in better,” Chandler said. “It has to be a concentration thing that we’re finishing plays. Defensively, it’s not a stop until you secure the ball, so we’ve got to make it a point of emphasis to get the boxouts and make sure that we secure the ball.

“It knocks the air out of yourselves when you play great defense and in the final three seconds, they get a loose ball or they tip it in or they tip it back out for a wide-open, uncontested shot. We have to do a much better job of sticking our noses in there and getting rebounds.”

The trade for Rajon Rondo, the NBA’s premier rebounding point guard right now, addressed Dallas’ desperate need in this department. The team also hopes more help is on the way with a backup big man. (Anytime you’re ready, Jermaine O’Neal.)

But the Mavs still have personnel flaws that make the rebounding battle a major challenge. Monta Ellis has the second-worst rebounding percentage (4.0) among regular starting shooting guards, grabbing only 2.4 per game. Dirk Nowitzki (11.3 rebounding percentage, 5.9 rebounds per game) ranks near the bottom of starting power forwards in this facet of the game.

And the only above-average rebounder off the Mavs’ bench is forward Al-Farouq Aminu, who has fallen to the fringe of the rotation recently.

“We’ve got to check out, and we’ve got to have five guys going after it. Simple as that,” Carlisle said. “I’m not going to lament our physical challenges. There’s five of us and there’s five of them. It’s not like there’s six of them out there.

“We’ve just got to take the challenge collectively to conquer this thing, and it’s tough. It’s tough because we’re going to be going up against some very physical teams and the challenge is heightened even more.”