When Robert Williams obtained the ball within the submit on a play throughout a victory over the Raptors final week, the Celtics middle heard a loud voice from his sideline.
It was Joe Mazzulla.
“’Score the (expletive) ball!” Williams mentioned his coach yelled at him.
“It just reassured me that we are going to need those things and my teammates do, too.”
As the playoffs start this weekend, the Celtics are asking much more from their gifted middle. After lacking the primary 29 video games of the season recovering from knee surgical procedure after which a number of extra video games managing the knee along with a hamstring harm in March, Williams is able to go and seemingly ramped up bodily to start the playoffs.
That’s clearly an enormous distinction from final 12 months at the moment, when he missed the ultimate seven common season video games after which the primary two video games of the playoffs because of a torn meniscus.
“I’m feeling good physically,” Williams mentioned. “I’m in a good mindset compared to last year, going through what I was going through. I’m just anxious.”
The Celtics had been naturally cautious with Williams, considered one of their most vital gamers who impressed final 12 months’s turnaround and ensuing run to the NBA Finals. Now, after coping with a number of accidents all season, he’s wholesome on the proper time and the Celtics appear happy with how they managed him. He performed 31 minutes and 25 minutes, respectively, in final week’s two wins over the Raptors earlier than sitting out the season finale.
“I’m really encouraged he’s played the minutes he’s played in the last couple of games,” Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens mentioned on Sunday. “It’s such a balance as you get late in the year of getting appropriate rest and doing that through the minor injuries that everybody’s got, and ramping up and making sure that you play enough games at playoff minutes, making sure you have enough real practice sessions that challenge you. I think that’s really important.”
The Celtics want Williams of their pursuit of a championship, and so they’re hoping he can affect either side of the ball. Defensively, Williams is among the finest within the league, however he’s been challenged to develop his recreation offensively. The middle has all the time been a prepared passer, however with so many scorers round him, he’s wanted some encouragement to be extra aggressive.
“There are times we do need those easy two seals or two dunks a game to take pressure off our scorers,” Williams mentioned.
“When Rob plays, when he’s a consistent threat at the rim, it just takes our team to a whole new level,” Al Horford added. “That last game we played against Toronto, I thought he was making an effort just to have an impact. And we know that he has that capability. And I’m excited to see him do that now in the postseason.”
Williams has all the time operated with a team-first mentality, whether or not it’s been coming off the bench this season or rising his recreation to what the group wants. At occasions, that’s required a push. But he’s embracing the problem.
“(Mazzulla has) cussed me out more than once to score the ball,” Williams mentioned. “We’ve all obtained to return collectively and attain the purpose. …
“I love to accept the challenges and he can be honest with me. He can be honest with all of us as related to scoring the ball. Just things like that, man. And it lets me know he has confidence in me.”
Room for development
After some early-season inconsistencies, the Celtics completed the season with a 110.6 defensive ranking, second within the NBA behind the Cavaliers. They’re peaking on the proper time on that finish, with the perfect defensive ranking within the league over the past 15 video games. But they’re definitely not glad.
“Even though the numbers say that we finished second, I actually do believe that there’s a lot of room for improvement for our group,” Horford mentioned. “And I believe that we will do that. So I’m excited. It’s a challenge for us. But we definitely want to be better, defensively.”
The Celtics have had a few of their finest defensive efforts of the season over the previous few weeks and so they’re hopeful that may proceed into their first playoff collection, particularly after it carried them to the Finals final June.
“I feel like we never left it,” Williams mentioned. “I feel like we always hung our hat on defense. It’s an easy effort, it’s a problem if you can’t give effort. It’s something we all expect out of each other. We’ve been making big steps on the offensive side of the ball and that’s great but you never try to downplay the defense.”
Brown to follow quickly
Jaylen Brown – who suffered a proper finger laceration final week and missed the ultimate two video games – didn’t follow on Tuesday however is anticipated to take action Thursday or Friday earlier than Saturday’s Game 1.
“It’s getting better,” Mazzulla mentioned. “He wasn’t able to practice today but he was out there for everything. Still no restrictions, you know, heading into Game 1.”
Marcus Smart can also be on monitor to be prepared for Game 1 after lacking the final three video games with a neck harm. He practiced on Tuesday.
“He’s good. He’s ramped up,” Mazzulla mentioned. “He was great today in practice, went live, he said he felt good, so he’ll be ready to go.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com