The Celtics are still planning to play without Robert Williams III for their entire first-round series against the Nets, Conor Roche of Boston.com writes. Williams suffered a torn meniscus on March 28 and could still return at some point this postseason.
“He’s progressing nicely, coming along. But we’re prepared to play a series without him,” head coach Ime Udoka said. “If we get a surprise and he’s back early, that would be nice. But we’re prepared to play this series without him.”
Boston started Daniel Theis in place of Williams on Sunday, which allowed them to continue playing big. Williams has established himself as one of the league’s best defensive big men, averaging a career-high 10.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks in 61 games this season.
Here are some other notes from the Atlantic:
- Sixers coach Doc Rivers and Raptors coach Nick Nurse understand the playoffs are about making adjustments, writes Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Toronto lost Game 1 of its first-round series against Philadelphia 131-111, allowing Tyrese Maxey to score 38 points. The Sixers also made just three turnovers and shot 51% from the floor.
- The Sixers were perfectly prepared for Game 1, Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice writes. Philadelphia kept the rebounding battle close, which was something the club discussed before the game. “All the days of practice that we had, we knew that’s the type of team that they are, scrappy,” Tobias Harris said. “We’ve been drilling it all day in practice, and when we got out there today, that was our emphasis from early in the game. We had to match their physicality and even be more physical than them.”
- Brian Lewis of the New York Post examines the evolution of Kevin Durant‘s playmaking. Durant averaged 29.9 points and a career-high 6.4 assists per game for the Nets this season. He recorded 16 assists against Indiana in the team’s final regular-season game, then followed it up with 11 assists against Cleveland in the play-in tournament.
They won’t need Bob if Horford plays like he did today
Never great having Willams out for a series but Brk is the one to miss if ya have too
Man if the refs let them play like they did today Boston is at a major advantage. Curious how the whistles get worked early game 2
Well to be fair KY could have been in fool trouble after his 4th, but the refs decided not to
Did you see Horford run all the halfcourt on the last defensive possession, heading off different players on hedges— how many centers can do that. Maybe none.
I lost track of the iffy calls, I hope they balanced. Well the players made it hard to officiate.
I watched it all again and don’t see anything you can blame Horford of ..?
Yes, 76ers are perfectly coached. Gary Trent played with injury though
Illness
Illness