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Celtics Notes: Smart, Williams, Udoka, Game 7

May 15th, 2022 at 8:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Marcus Smart couldn’t sleep after the embarrassing end to the Celtics‘ Game 5 loss, but he redeemed himself as Boston won Game 6 in Milwaukee, writes Andrew Callahan of The Boston Herald. With the Celtics trailing by a point in the closing seconds on Wednesday, Smart had his shot blocked by Bucks guard Jrue Holiday, who clinched the game seconds later by stealing the ball from Smart.

“That final minute, those final minutes, ate me alive,” Smart said. “My guys, teammates, coaches, were doing a good job of making sure that I stay as composed as I could and keep my mind right, cause I was really hurt after that. I felt like I let my team down. ‘Just be you.’ That’s just all they kept telling me. (Celtics assistant) Damon Stoudamire pulled me to the side and just told me — cause I dropped my head a couple times in those possessions — he was just, ‘I’ve never seen you do that and I just want you to not to lose confidence in yourself because we need you.’”

Instead of lying awake, Smart spent the night at the Celtics’ practice facility and regained his focus for Game 6. He scored 21 points, handed out seven assists and showed why he was this season’s Defensive Player of the Year by limiting Bucks’ shooters to 33% from the field when he was their primary defender.

“That was to be expected. We have all the confidence in the world in Smart,” Jayson Tatum said. “We knew that he was gonna come back and be the player that we needed him to be on the road in this Game 6, and he stepped up. He was big for us tonight, especially in the beginning, making the right plays.”

There’s more from Boston:

Injured center Robert Williams has been upgraded to questionable for Game 7 on the Celtics’ injury report (Twitter link). Williams hasn’t played since suffering a bone bruise in his left knee in Game 3, and coach Ime Udoka said Williams’ pain tolerance will determine whether he’ll be active today, according to Trevor Hass of Boston.com. Udoka explained that the injury affects Williams’ mobility on certain movements, but he doesn’t believe it’s a long-term concern.
Warriors forward Draymond Green sent out a tweet Friday night stating that Udoka doesn’t receive enough credit for the job he’s done with the Celtics. “I just watched Bucks/Celtics highlights on (ESPN’s Sports Center),” Green wrote. “They showed something about Mike Buldenholzer and then some of the Celtics players talking about the game. But, did not show Ime Udoka at all. Did he make any adjustments from game 5 to 6? Does Ime do Interviews? Just wondering???”
The Celtics have lost twice at home to the Bucks already in this series, but they’re glad to have Game 7 in Boston, per David Brandt of The Associated Press. “It means everything,” Tatum said. “The best atmosphere in the NBA. Game 7s are the biggest and best games. Looking forward to it, truly. It’s basketball – biggest moments, biggest stage. What it boils down to is now go out there and just have fun.”

Tatum Backs Up His Max Extension

May 14th, 2022 at 11:05am CST by Dana Gauruder

When the Celtics signed Jayson Tatum to a five-year max extension in November 2020, they were looking for him to deliver superstar performances in the postseason. He did just that in Game 6 against Milwaukee on Friday, Jared Weiss of The Athletic writes. Tatum saved Boston’s season and forced a Game 7 with his 46-point outburst.

“It’s why he gets paid the big bucks. That’s it right there, for moments like that,” Celtics guardMarcus Smart said. “I was telling him the whole game, ‘Just be you, man,’ and he was. That’s what he gets paid to do. That’s what we lean on him to do.”

Celtics’ Robert Williams Out For Game 6 Vs. Bucks

May 13th, 2022 at 5:22pm CST by Rory Maher

Celtics center Robert Williams will miss Friday’s Game 6 against the Bucks due to pain from the bone bruise in his left knee, which he suffered in Game 3, tweets Andrew Lopez of ESPN.

Williams collided with Giannis Antetokounmpo in Game 3 and later experienced swelling from the incident, which kept him out of Game 4. The swelling has subsided, but the pain from the injury has lingered, causing him to miss Game 5 and now Game 6. He’d previously been listed as questionable.

“I’m disappointed, as we all are, but looking out for his health first and foremost,” said head coach Ime Udoka, adding that Williams won’t play until he’s 100 percent (Twitter links via Jared Weiss and Jay King of The Athletic).

Williams is considered day-to-day and there’s a chance he could return for Game 7 if Boston defeats Milwaukee, per Weiss (via Twitter). The Bucks currently lead the second-round series 3-2.

Although Williams underwent left knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus at the end of March, the bone bruise is unrelated to that procedure and stems solely from what happened in Game 3.

The 24-year-old has had a breakout fourth season, emerging as a legitimate candidate for an All-Defensive nod. He averaged 10.0 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 2.0 APG and 2.2 BPG with an impressive .736 FG% in 61 regular season games (29.6 MPG).

He’s been limited by conditioning and foul trouble in some postseason games, averaging 6.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 1.8 BPG in five games (20.2 MPG). Still, it’s a big absence for Boston in a must-win elimination game on the road. Game 6 tips off at 6:30pm CT on ESPN.

Robert Williams Sustained Bone Bruise In Game 3

May 13th, 2022 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Celtics big man Robert Williams, who is still listed as questionable for Game 6 on Friday, was diagnosed with a bone bruise in his left knee after colliding with Giannis Antetokounmpo in Game 3, head coach Ime Udoka said today. Williams’ injured knee is the same one he had surgery on in March, but that procedure isn’t the cause of his current absence. “There’s no problems with the surgery at all,” Udoka said, per Andrew Lopez of ESPN. “It’s just that specific hit that he took (in Game 3).”

Williams Listed As Questionable For Game 6

May 12th, 2022 at 10:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Celtics center Robert Williams is listed as questionable for Friday’s Game 6 against the Bucks, Jared Weiss tweets. Williams averaged 23.3 MPG in the first three games of the series but sat out the last two games.

Nikola Jokic Repeats As Most Valuable Player

May 11th, 2022 at 5:45pm CST by Arthur Hill

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic has won his second straight Most Valuable Player Award, topping the Sixers‘ Joel Embiid and the Bucks‘ Giannis Antetokounmpo by a comfortable margin, the NBA announced in a press release.

Jokic received 65 first-place votes and 875 total points, putting him well ahead of Embiid, who finished second with 26 first-place votes and 706 points. Antetokounmpo came in third with nine first-place votes and 595 points.

Nobody else received a first-place vote, but Suns guard Devin Booker was fourth with 216 points and Mavericks guard Luka Doncic was fifth at 146 points. With 100 total voters, the balloting system awarded 10 points for a first-place vote, seven points for second, five points for third, three points for fourth and one point for fifth.

Other players receiving votes were the Celtics‘ Jayson Tatum (43 points), the Grizzlies‘ Ja Morant (10), the Warriors‘ Stephen Curry (4), the Suns‘ Chris Paul (2), the Bulls‘ DeMar DeRozan (1), the Lakers‘ LeBron James (1) and the Nets‘ Kevin Durant (1).

Jokic is the 13th player to win MVP honors in back-to-back seasons. He averaged 27.1 points, 13.8 rebounds and 7.9 assists in 74 games and helped the Nuggets earn the sixth seed in the West despite the absence of Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Jokic was named Western Conference Player of the Month twice this season and reached the All-Star Game for the fourth straight year.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski first reported on Monday that Jokic would win the award.

Robert Williams Will Miss Game 5

May 11th, 2022 at 4:33pm CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics center Robert Williams will miss Wednesday’s game against the Bucks because of soreness in his left knee, tweets Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

Williams, who underwent meniscus surgery on the knee March 27, returned midway through the first-round series with the Nets and was able to play in the first three games against Milwaukee. Coach Ime Udoka said the swelling that kept him out of Monday’s Game 4 has subsided, but the pain is persisting.

“Still has some soreness and is going to be overly cautious coming off of surgery until it’s pain free,” Udoka said, adding that the soreness affects Williams’ mobility (Twitter link).

Grant Williams will once again take his place in the starting lineup. The series is tied at 2-2.

Al Horford Enjoys Career Night In Game 4 Win

May 10th, 2022 at 1:38pm CST by Arthur Hill

Celtics big man Al Horford, who wanted to show after an unsuccessful stint in Philadelphia and a stopover in Oklahoma City that he could still play, certainly proved just that on Monday night when he put up 30 points (a personal playoff high) in a crucial victory over Milwaukee, as Andrew Lopez of ESPN and Jay King of The Athletic write. Horford’s big game came at just the right time for the Celtics, who were the only team last offseason that showed interest in trading for him without insisting that the Thunder give up an asset in a deal, says Chris Mannix of SI.com.

Bucks Notes: Hill, Matthews, Horst, Antetokounmpo, Ibaka

May 9th, 2022 at 6:20pm CST by Dana Gauruder

George Hill returned to action in Game 3 of the Bucks’ series against the Celtics and had no setbacks. The veteran guard is not listed on the injury report for Monday’s game, Jim Owczarski of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel tweets. Hill, who hadn’t seen action since April 8 due to an abdominal strain, played 11 scoreless minutes with one assist in Game 3.

We have more on the defending champions:

Wesley Matthews‘ excellent defense and the Bucks’ scheme frustrated Jayson Tatum in Game 3. Tatum now has to figure out how to get to his sweet spots more frequently, Jared Weiss of The Athletic writes. Weiss takes an in-depth on the Bucks’ plan against Tatum and how he might counter in Game 4.
Boston fumed about a no-call in the closing seconds of Game 3. Surprisingly, Bucks GM Jon Horst also felt the officiating wasn’t up to par, as he told Eric Nehm of The Athletic. “I couldn’t do their job. You couldn’t do their job,” Horst said. “Officiating is hard, just like playing is hard and coaching is hard, and I think we all have a standard of trying to get better and improve. And at the end of the day, that’s what stood out to me. We have to improve. That wasn’t a quality playoff basketball game, and I think officiating played a role in that.”
Giannis Antetokounmpo takes all kinds of punishment and doles it out, too. His teammates marvel at his mental toughness with defenses constantly collapsing on him, Steve Aschburner of NBA.com writes. “He’s so good at being mentally strong,” center Brook Lopez said. “He obviously has lots of guys throwing themselves at him when he’s trying to get into his moves and make plays for himself and everyone else. He does a great job of sticking with it, staying in the game, and just keeping his mojo … It can be frustrating at times. He does a great job of just kind of letting it go like water off a duck’s back.”
Serge Ibaka was a late scratch from Monday’s game due to a non-COVID illness, Lily Zhao of FOX6 tweets. Ibaka has made two cameo appearances in the series.

Robert Williams Won’t Play Monday

May 9th, 2022 at 5:24pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Celtics center Robert Williams will not play in Game 4 against the Bucks on Monday due to left knee soreness, the team’s PR department tweets.

Williams’ knee soreness was expected, coach Ime Udoka told Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe (Twitter link) and other media members. The team’s starting big man tried to work out prior to game and couldn’t move like the team wanted, according to Udoka. Udoka believes that by resting Williams tonight, he’ll be able to play in Game 5, Jared Weiss of The Athletic tweets.

It’s a tough blow for a team facing a 2-1 series deficit on the road.

Williams missed the latter portion of the regular season due to meniscus surgery. He has appeared in five postseason games, including three starts, and has averaged 6.3 PPG, 4.8 RPG and 1.8 BPG in 2o.2 MPG.

Boston will go with a smaller starting lineup with Grant Williams starting in Robert Williams’ place.