Celtics center Robert Williams will be active for Tuesday’s game against the Kings, per Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). Point guard Marcus Smart and big man Al Horford will also be able to suit up for Boston.
Williams has already missed 44 games this season with various maladies. Most recently, he has been sidelined for Boston’s last eight contests with a hamstring injury. The 6’9″ big man has averaged 8.4 PPG on 75% shooting for the Celtics this season. He’s also chipping in 8.6 RPG, 1.5 APG and 1.2 BPG.
There’s more out of Boston:
- Williams’ recent extended absence, along with the lackluster shooting of Celtics All-Star forward Jayson Tatum, are big factors behind the club’s recent performative decline, opines Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. That said, the team has also suffered some inexplicable defeats recently, staggering instead of striding toward the Eastern Conference playoffs.
- The Celtics have dropped to the East’s No. 3 seed following an 8-7 run across their past 15 contests. Jared Weiss of The Athletic outlines the steps Boston can take to pivot from this recent skid and improve their play down the season’s home stretch.
- As we previously discussed, the Celtics could be in line to receive a very valuable bonus second-round draft pick courtesy of the Trail Blazers or Rockets, thanks to stipulations from two separate trades.
Celtics will be a second rd exit
Can you break down the rest of the playoffs for us too? It’s so hard not knowing what’s going to happen.
Big test for Cs tonight. Will be using as a personal litmus test.
If they can’t beat Sac on a back to back, pack it up jack, season is officially whack.
Really nice win last night. Having Rob back made a huge difference. You can see them trying to work him in, the energy on the court. Smart with a cold hand but had some big stops. Pappy likey
Yes, Timelord is our (not so) secret weapon! One problem is Coach Mazzulla wants to play offense & Timelord doesn’t shoot jumpers or threes so he’s like Al or KO moving the ball but without their long distance weapon. So I think Coach is in a quandary. (I hope Rob develops a three point shot this off season.)
As for Smart, he shooting 33.4% from three. Tatum & Brown both at 34.4% from three, not much different.
Go Celts!
Re: Smart I meant last night specifically, not overall. His shots were just not landing for whatever reason. So off night offensively but made up for it on the other end.
I don’t see Rob developing a 3 pt shot anytime soon. He is athletic interior guy who makes his money on rebounds, blocks and lobs. He is still valuable offensively just needs to get back into rhythm and not miss more games.
Yes, Smart’s drives couldn’t find the basket but he made 3 threes, one in each of the first three quarters when the game was up for grabs. Seven assists w only one turnover, 17 points.
You’re likely right. Timelord is too valuable & unique on the defensive side to shoot threes. But I like his form on jumpers so who knows.
Our Boston Celtics surely need to play better. To start with, please cut way down on sloppy turnovers, please, Jaylen, Jason & Marcus! And we need Playoff Al & Timelord to control the boards for sure. Without them we just gave up 17 offensive rebounds in a one point loss!
Maybe mistake-free play should help us from blowing double digit leads and closing games. We need each possession to lead to a shot!
But I haven’t totally given up on this Boston Celtics team this season. We have something good going here with this roster so if we stay healthy & concentrate & focus on good play … who knows? Go Celtics!
And though I’ve been hard on Jayson Tatum, figuring he can’t make his threes because of the distraction all his fame brings, he’s doing other things. As long as he gets to line 10 times on drives or collects 10 defensive boards, he’s helping when they double-team him. Just cut down on those unforced turnovers! Go Celtics!
He can’t make threes because he is famous?
What?
Yes, basically if you wake up each day and have lots of media appointments, photo shoots, TV ads to make, calls on your phone about you or your son, MVP talk all day, etc., you’re not thinking about basketball. You’re not at the gym shooting lots of shots.
What I’m excited about is that Jayson, Jaylen & Marcus only had 1 turnover each in the win at Sacramento last night! Only 5 in total! So only 5 times we didn’t get a shot. Of course we played the highest scoring team in the NBA, not a defensive team like Miami, New York, etc. so we’ll see. Go Celtics!
They have the second best record in the NBA, why would you give up on them?
I haven’t because I’ve seen this Celtics team play great! And Tatum carry us! And Brown carry us! And all the rest … for parts of games. And Stevens says Coach Mazzulla knows how to galvanize a team around a mission. So I’m hoping this starts showing up on the court! And we play at our best in the Playoffs!
Go Celtics!
The Celtics looked good with Rob back. Joe can coach give him a break
You’re right. I gotta trust & believe in him. Go Joe! Go Celtics!