Coach Doc Rivers compared Harden’s situation to what Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen experienced when they joined the Celtics. It’s harder to put up impressive stats on teams with multiple scoring options.
Celtics coach Ime Udoka wasn’t happy with his team’s level of composure during Wednesday’s loss to the Heat, writes Brian Robb of MassLive. Amid a playoff-level atmosphere and with first place in the East on the line, Udoka thought his team got too distracted by the officiating.
“We talked about it at halftime. We were complaining a little bit too much, being down one as poorly as we played early and not playing our best basketball,” Udoka said. “We got caught up in that early in the game as some calls late that didn’t go our way and we got caught up in that. We still have to transfer down to the other end and continue to guard, play through it. It’s a physical team that felt like a playoff atmosphere tonight as far as that. We could do a better job with our composure for sure.”
Marcus Smart was ejected after picking up two technical fouls late in the fourth quarter, but a bigger concern is Jayson Tatum, who was called for his 13th technical of the season in the first half. If he gets three more, Tatum will receive an automatic one-game suspension.
“I do not want to have to sit out a game,” he said. “The previous 12 techs, I’ve looked at all of them. I agree with probably 10 of them I deserved, but tonight, I don’t know. That’s the one I got to think about and watch. That was a tough one. I was trying to have a conversation. I was asking questions. It’s unfortunate that I got that tech, but just something that we got to move on from and continue to keep playing.”
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All the Eastern Conference playoff matchups are still to be determined, but COVID-19 vaccinations could be a factor for whomever winds up facing the Raptors, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
On January 15, Canada implemented a rule barring unvaccinated players from entering the country. Among the top four teams in the East, the Heat and Bucks both confirmed to Bontemps that all their players have been vaccinated, but the Celtics and Sixers refused to comment.
Boston kept four players out of action Monday in its first game at Toronto since the new rule was implemented. It was the second night of a back-to-back, so their absence may not be related to their vaccination status.
Robert Williams suffered a meniscus tear in Sunday’s game that will require surgery, and Al Horford was unavailable both Sunday and Monday for personal reasons. Jayson Tatum missed the game with right patella tendinopathy, and Jaylen Brown was held out because of soreness in his right knee.
Sources told Bontemps that Williams has received the vaccine, but there’s less clarity on the other three Celtics. Tatum said on media day that he was vaccinated, but he defended people who chose not to be. Brown made a similar statement, saying the vaccine is a matter of choice.
Brown and Horford both spent time in health and safety protocols in October, Bontemps notes, and Horford re-entered the protocols in December.
The Sixers haven’t played in Toronto since late December, but they’ll be there on April 7, which should provide some clarity on who will be eligible.
Any players who want to get vaccinated in advance of an upcoming series are running out of time, Bontemps adds. To qualify as fully vaccinated in Canada, people must be two weeks beyond either a single Johnson & Johnson vaccine or the second shot of the two-dose options. Games 3 and 4 of a playoff series are roughly three weeks away.
It’s also possible that the Raptors could host the Nets in the opener of the play-in tournament, which would affect Kyrie Irving, the league’s most noted non-vaccinated player. Irving was just cleared last week to begin playing home games, so he will be eligible at some point in the playoffs regardless of Brooklyn’s opponent.
9:46am: The Celtics have provided an official update on Williams, announcing that he underwent a successful partial left knee meniscectomy and confirming that he’s expected to return in about four-to-six weeks (Twitter links).
7:41am: Robert Williams underwent surgery this morning on the torn meniscus in his left knee, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who reports that the Celtics big man is expected to return within about four-to-six weeks. There’s optimism his return could fall on the shorter end of that timeline, Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter).
While Williams will, of course, miss the rest of the regular season, there’s a chance he could play again in the postseason, especially if Boston advances to the second round. The Eastern Conference Semifinals will begin between April 30 and May 3, which is at least a month away.
As we noted when Williams was first diagnosed with a torn meniscus, the recovery timeline for the injury can vary significantly depending on the severity of the tear and how it’s treated. Jaren Jackson Jr. missed most of last season due to the injury, while James Wiseman and Collin Sexton are on similar timetables this year. However, the injury costs some players only weeks rather than months — for instance, Didi Louzada is nearing a return after undergoing meniscus surgery in early February.
A four-to-six week projection is even more aggressive than Louzada’s timeline, but it’s not out of the question. If Williams is able to make it back for the Celtics and play anywhere near the level he was at prior to the injury, it would provide a significant boost to the team’s chances of making a deep playoff run.
The Celtics have the NBA’s best record since the start of February and Williams has played a major role in their recent success, anchoring the league’s top-ranked defense and emerging as a strong candidate for an All-Defensive nod. He has averaged 10.0 PPG, 9.6 RPG, and 2.2 BPG with an impressive .736 FG% in 61 games (29.6 MPG) this season.
Williams is under contract for four more seasons beyond this one, so the Celtics will take his long-term health into account as they determine if and when he’s able to play this spring.
5:10pm: Williams will undergo surgery on his injured knee, coach Ime Ukoda told Jared Weiss of The Athletic (Twitter link) and other media members. Williams will explore surgical options this week.
12:19pm: The Celtics have officially confirmed that Williams has a torn lateral meniscus in his left knee, announcing in a press release that they’ll provide an update later this week on his treatment and recovery.
10:51am: Celtics big man Robert Williams, who underwent further testing on his injured left knee today, has suffered a meniscus tear and will miss, at minimum, several weeks, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter).
Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) was the first to report the team’s fear that Williams had torn the meniscus in his left knee. The 24-year-old sustained the injury on Sunday.
The treatment plan and recovery timeline for a meniscus tear varies from player to player, since the injury can be treated both surgically and non-surgically, depending on the severity — some players who suffer the injury are only sidelined for weeks, while others miss months. According to Wojnarowski, further evaluation on Williams today will help determine how long he’ll be sidelined.
With just two weeks left in the regular season, it’s possible we won’t see Williams again in 2021/22, especially if Boston doesn’t win a playoff series or two.
It’s a brutal turn of events for Williams and for the Celtics, who have looked like the Eastern Conference’s best team over the last couple months, winning 24 of their last 28 games.
The Celtics currently hold the No. 1 seed in the East and Williams has played a major role in their recent success, anchoring the NBA’s top-ranked defense and nearly averaging a double-double, with 10.0 PPG and 9.6 RPG on the season. He has shot an eye-popping 73.6% from the floor and emerged as a strong candidate for an All-Defensive nod.
With Williams sidelined, Boston will lean more heavily on Al Horford, Daniel Theis, and Grant Williams in the frontcourt. The team is signing forward Juwan Morgan to a 10-day contract using its open roster spot, but that deal will expire before the season ends, so that 15th spot could be used next week on a big man, if necessary.
Williams, who signed a rookie scale extension with the Celtics last fall, will be under contract for four years and $48MM (with another $6MM in incentives), beginning in 2022/23.
Celtics forward Jayson Tatum has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week, while Suns guard Devin Booker has earned Player of the Week honors in the Western Conference, the NBA announced today (via Twitter).
Tatum won the award for a second consecutive week and a third time in March. It’s his fourth total Player of the Week award in 2021/22, which leads all NBA players. Booker is right behind him — this is the third time in ’21/22 that he has been named a Player of the Week.
In three games during the week of March 21-27, Tatum averaged 32.0 PPG, 5.0 RPG, and 5.0 APG with a scorching-hot .582/.500/1.000 shooting line in 33.7 minutes per contest. The Celtics won all three games to extend their winning streak to six.
Booker and the Suns also had a perfect week, with victories over Minnesota, Denver, and Philadelphia. Buoyed by a 49-point outburst against the Nuggets, Booker averaged 37.3 PPG and 6.3 APG in those three games (36.4 MPG), with a shooting line of .581/.429/.829.
The other Eastern Conference nominees this week were LaMelo Ball, RJ Barrett, Joel Embiid, Darius Garland, and Trae Young. Deandre Ayton, Desmond Bane, Luka Doncic, and Nikola Jokic were nominated in the West (Twitter link).
1:37pm: Morgan’s 10-day deal with the Celtics is now official, the team announced in a press release. It’ll run through April 6, covering Boston’s next five games.
Morgan may have a chance to play right away, as Brown and Tatum have been ruled out for the Celtics’ game in Toronto on Monday.
10:30am: The Celtics have agreed to sign forward Juwan Morgan to a 10-day contract, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Morgan was in camp with the Celtics in the fall, but was waived before the regular season began and subsequently joined the team’s G League affiliate in Maine. He earned a 10-day call-up from the Raptors in December when Toronto was hit hard by COVID-related absences, but has otherwise spent the 2021/22 season in the G League.
Morgan has appeared in 20 regular season NBAGL games for the Maine Celtics this season, averaging 12.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG, and 2.8 APG on .509/.340/.730 shooting in 25.9 minutes per contest.
A former Big Ten standout at Indiana, Morgan went undrafted in 2019 and caught on with the Jazz, first signing an Exhibit 10 deal with Utah and then agreeing to a multiyear deal with the team. In 51 total regular season games with Utah and Toronto across three seasons, the 24-year-old has averaged 1.5 PPG and 1.2 RPG on 52.5% shooting in just 6.0 MPG.
The Celtics have an open spot on their 15-man roster, so no corresponding move will be required to sign Morgan, who will earn $95,930 on his 10-day deal. He’ll provide some forward depth in case the club wants to rest Jaylen Brown (right knee soreness) and/or Jayson Tatum (right patella tendinopathy) for a game or two.
Celtics big man Robert Williams will undergo further testing on his left knee after spraining it in the second half of Sunday’s victory over Minnesota, writes Tim Bontemps of ESPN.
“Don’t know exactly what happened,” head coach Ime Udoka said after Sunday’s game. “He said it wasn’t even a specific play that he remembers, but came out of the game, had some pain, obviously went back to get checked out and was in quite a bit of pain, and he’ll get scanned in the morning and we’ll know then.”
The Celtics are in Toronto on Monday night for the second game of a back-to-back set and Williams didn’t make the trip, says Bontemps. While he’ll be out for that game, it’s unclear how much longer the 24-year-old may be sidelined. As Udoka indicated in his postgame comments, the team will know more after assessing the results of today’s scans.
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