Playoff games aren’t a good time for a young player to work his way through growing pains and Robert Williams found that out the hard way against the 76ers last round.
Coming into Sunday’s Game 1 against the Raptors, he had played 16 minutes of meaningful basketball in his postseason career over just three games. His rookie year he was limited to mop-up duty after a two-minute cameo in Game 1 against the Pacers.
Higher expectations were placed upon him this year on the heels of standout play in Orlando during the seeding games. All the Celtics centers were playing well but Boston’s upside reached a different level when Williams was on the court. Marcus Smart described it succinctly on Sunday.
“Rob is one of those guys where he comes in and he changes the game, just his presence. His athleticism is ridiculous.”
Williams found himself glued to the bench however after a dud performance in Game 1 against Philly over 14 minutes that featured rushed decisions and bad fouls. Normally, a bad night wouldn’t cost a guy his spot in the rotation but Grant Williams filled the void nicely when he got his chance at Timelord's minutes at the end of Game 1. That earned him Brad Stevens' trust for the rest of the series and left R. Williams waiting in the wings for a second chance. He played just two non-garbage time minutes over the rest of the series as Stevens stuck with the formula that got him four straight wins.
Opportunity knocked early though in Game 1 against the Raptors. The Celtics got out to a strong start with an 11-5 lead thanks to their stout defense before Daniel Theis picked up his second foul. After seeing Rob Williams play one of his best games of the seeding games against Toronto (10 points, 4 rebounds), the second-year center got the call early in this one as we predicted he would in our series preview. Grant Williams and Enes Kanter both have been playing well against Toronto but Stevens was looking for upside here against a tougher opponent and he found it with Williams.
RIM RUNNING
For a team that likes to overhelp in Toronto, sometimes the easiest way to keep a defense honest is by forcing them to respect a big that can finish. Theis is solid in this area but he had a case of the yips on Sunday at times, coughing up four turnovers partially due to his inability to corral passes cleanly from the C’s guards.
Williams provided a nice alternative on that front once Theis went to the bench early. He has terrific hands for someone his size and the Celtics really put him in spots to succeed with the lineups he played him with. For instance, a pick-and-roll with Kemba Walker forces Serge Ibaka to make a challenging choice. Does he sacrifice an open pull-up Walker 3 or stay back to protect against the roll? Ibaka decided to keep Walker honest, allowing Williams a free run to the rim.
With Boston hitting their 3s early, Toronto was hesitant to help off secondary shooters like Tatum, Brown and Smart to provide help at the rim. The end result? Williams finishes with a dunk to minimal help defense.
TIME LORD ⏰? pic.twitter.com/PqnHorXJPT
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) August 30, 2020
TIMELORD THINGS ⏰? pic.twitter.com/qeJy8A8bBH
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) August 30, 2020
