Robert Williams may be close to returning to the floor for the Celtics, and could even be on the floor for tomorrow night's Game 3 according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Boston Celtics center Robert Williams is close to a return and could play in Game 3 (Saturday) or Game 4 (Monday) vs. Nets, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Final determination will be made on how Williams feels day-to-day after suffering torn meniscus on March 27.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 22, 2022
When he returns is still up in the air. He did travel with the team to Brooklyn today, and the Celtics official injury report listed him as questionable. According to a new report by ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, Williams "intends to play limited minutes in Game 3 vs. Brooklyn and then escalate his minutes in Game 4"
The Celtics have always sounded optimistic about Williams surgery and recovery, which is why I said before the series started that a Game 3 return was realistic. The meniscus tear was small, the surgery went perfectly, and he was in the gym the next day starting his rehab.
The Celtics have publicly adhered to the 4-to-6 week timeline and toed a company line that they were prepared to play without him. At the same time, they've made optimistic statements about his recovery, making comparisons to other quick returns.
"The 4-to-6 week timetable is what it is. But guys will come back in three and stuff like him and Javonte Green was here and came back in three weeks and jumping out of the gym still," Ime Udoka said after the regular season finale in Memphis. "Everybody kind of reacts to it differently and so we're not ruling him out because of that, but as I've said, we anticipate playing the first round without him.”
It makes sense to be optimistic without committing to the new timetable, however their Game 2 defense showed how much they anticipated Williams coming back.
As I noted before Game 2, Boston's defense would likely be a tell about whether the team was truly planning on playing without Williams. They used a lot of drop coverage with Daniel Theis in Game 1 but got burned by him dropping too far. The Game 2 adjustment didn't involve any wholesale changes, which signaled the Celtics were willing to try tweaking their Daniel Theis plan without disrupting the other four players on the floor.
Now Williams can slide right into the same defensive scheme but with the added athleticism to strike more fear into any Nets trying to drive to the rim. Remember, Bruce Brown basically admitted that Boston having Williams was a deterrent to them attacking. Now he can play the similar drop coverage and challenge Brooklyn's shooters knowing they aren't very keen on trying to drive past him for fear of a chase-down block.
It should be noted that a return from a meniscus surgery simply involves strengthening the knee and being pain-free. The arthroscopic surgery is minimally invasive and the only surgically repaired part of the knee is a piece of cartilage. Because there's no tendon, ligament, or muscle involved in the surgery, there should be no impact on his explosiveness.