The Celtics were back at it, hitting the floor at the Auerbach Center for an extended practice after some time off in preparation for their first round series against the Brooklyn Nets.
"Looking good,” Ime Udoka said of his first full day of being on the floor. The Nets made the matchup official by beating the Cavs last night. “That's why not being in the play-in is crucial going into the postseason. Get your full health back, get time to prepare and work on some things and implement a few new things. Everybody feels good other than (Robert Williams), and we'll be full and ready to go on Sunday."
When the Celtics get Williams back is still up in the air. Williams is progressing in his rehab, but no update has been made to his timeline.
“(He’s doing) a little bit more every day,” Udoka said. “He's looking good and in good spirits … we're happy with the progress, but at the same time, we understand it's gonna take time.”
Williams has progressed to shooting and other drills on the floor, and the way the schedule is laid out, the four-week mark from the date of his surgery is April 27, the date of Game 5.
Here’s a look at the schedule:
The Celtics are still being conservative with Williams’ time frame.
“Probably be a full series without him and that's what we're looking at doing,” Udoka said. “He’s in the gym, but at the same time, we're worried about the guys we have and who is available and we'll cross that path when it comes.”
We’ll have to wait and see if the Celtics are engaging in a little gamesmanship with the Williams timeline, but in the meantime, they have to find a way to deal with the potent one-two punch of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. The last time they played, Williams blocked five shots and the Celtics were able to hold Irving to 19 points on 8-18 shooting. Durant put up 37, but Jayson Tatum had 54.
“Obviously, (they have) two of the elite scorers in the game, and they do it that way, heavy isolation,” Udoka said. “And so obviously, the way we defend the times, they're going to have those opportunities. Two of the tough ones that we saw in the game here when they both played late in the season. That's what they're all about. And we have our high level defenders, they got elite scorers, and so that’ll be the challenge.”
Boston’s switching scheme invites isolation play, which tempts Irving and Durant into what they like to do best. At the same time, Brooklyn switches a lot, and so Tatum will be invited to do the same.
“Everyone knows the talent that they have and it is not a traditional seven seed team,” Tatum said. “ They had some ups and downs this year but for the most part, got their full team. They're really good. Well coached, they got some great players, obviously. I'm just looking forward to it. It's going to be fun and very exciting. We are ready for it.”
The Celtics will get two more full practices in before Game 1 on Sunday afternoon, but the series is a drawn out one. There are two days off between Games 1 and 2, and then another two before Game 3 before sliding back onto an every-other-day rhythm. That gives both teams time to catch their breath before slapping bellies again.
"I would say the rest is always a good thing,” Udoka said. “Obviously, preparation and adjustments. You have more time in between, but that's a game-by-game basis and how the series is going. Whether you have a day or two days in between, you're always going to tweak a few things, look at what you could've done better. At the same time, you're doing what you need to, just having rest time and practice time for the guys. There's a benefit in the first round.”
BRUCE BROWN GETS SCOLDED FOR TALKING ABOUT BOSTON
After beating the Cavs, Brown was asked about facing the Celtics and he said, “they don't have Robert Williams, so they have less of a presence in the paint, and we could attack Al Horford and (Daniel) Theis. So them not having Robert Williams is huge."
It seems like an attempt to state something factual, but Durant wasn’t a fan. When he sat down, he asked what Brown had said and then scolded him for it.
"That's caffeine pride talking. Those dudes can do the same things,” Durant said of Theis and Horford. “"We respect our opponents. We don't need to talk about what we're going to do to them. I didn't like that … We don't need to say shit like that. Lets just go out there and hoop."
Regardless, the comments will certainly serve as motivation for Boston’s front line. Theis and Horford have, so far, proven themselves to be a very capable duo.
“We still have two high-level defenders back there,” Udoka said. “And we have layers to our defense. So it's not like we're getting blown by and Rob is protecting, we still have Marcus (Smart), Jaylen (Brown), Jayson and everybody else in between. … so they think it's attack time because Rob's out? Obviously we played quite a few games without him now and have done good enough beating some good teams.”
THE TATUM, DURANT, IRVING BOND
Durant’s attempt to squash Brown’s comments before they became a big thing might have stemmed, in part, from his relationship with Tatum. The two have developed a bond over the years from not only facing each other on the floor, but through mutual endorsement deals and time together with Team USA.
It’s natural for two friends with high-powered games facing each other to want to duel, but Tatum says he’s “not trying to make it a 1-on-1 thing. Obviously, everybody knows who Kevin is and the things he's accomplished and what he brings to this game but it's a team sport. Obviously, he's the focal point of their team and you got to compete and gameplan and things like that to make it tough for him.”
Tatum is also still close to Irving, who had a big influence on him as a player.
“He helped me out a lot those first two years, just kind of watching a superstar,” Tatum said. “I got to see him every day, see how he worked from his body, prepare for games and things like that. Learned what to do and learned some things what not to do. He will be the first to tell me that I could learn from the encounters that we had. Obviously, we've talked and there are some things that he probably told me he wished he would have done differently but I think that's a part of life. No one is perfect, you just got to move on from it as you get older.”
It’s actually good to hear Tatum say that he learned some of what not to do during that time. Being able to learn those lessons is important for a young up-and-coming star in the league.
WILL BEN SIMMONS PLAY?
There is chatter about Simmons suiting up at some point in this series, which would be an interesting wrinkle.
It certainly would be a huge ask of Simmons to come back from a year off and after a back injury and jump right into a playoff series against a physical defense like Boston’s.
Still, he’s immensely talented and if he’s healthy, even 10 minutes of Simmons could be enough to swing a game somewhere along the way, especially since Boston has no idea how he’d be used.
“It would be hard to emulate that because we haven’t seen him with Brooklyn,” Udoka said. “I coached him two years ago and a lot of guys have played with or against him, so we know what he is. Obviously he’s been off for a year and there’s some rust there, so some unpredictability as far as how they’ll implement him. But we know his game and what he does, and based on what happened last year how to attack him and manipulate certain things.”
This may well be a smokescreen from the Nets to get Boston distracted from the task at hand. Tatum might think so, because he didn’t seem worried about the possibility.
“If that happens, we cross that bridge when we get there,” Tatum said. “But right now we’re just focusing on the guys that they’ve got available at this moment.”