Why Grant Williams is starting Game 7 despite Rob Williams return from knee injury for Celtics

The Celtics will have their usual starting center back available for Game 7 as Rob Williams dresses in uniform for the first time since suffering a bone bruise in his left knee in Boston’s Game 3 loss.

Williams was originally deemed questionable before the game but Ime Udoka said before Game 7 that the center had experienced some improvement in the past week with pain and soreness, allowing the training staff to give him the green light to play Game 7.

While Williams’ being back for Game 7 will be a nice boost for Boston’s frontcourt depth, don’t necessarily look for Udoka to play him his regular minutes or perhaps any minutes at all, unless a situation calls for it. Udoka hinted that Williams may only play situationally after his layoff, with Grant Williams getting the nod to start over him despite his return to the floor.

“Rob is available,” Udoka said. “He’s available to play. He hasn’t done a whole lot of basketball activity in the last week, just more managing the pain. He won’t start and we will go with our normal rotation the last three games with him being out. We’ll use him if needed.”

Analysis

Grant Williams getting the start in this matchup makes plenty of sense given the stellar defensive job he has done on Giannis Antetokokunmpo so far this series. The telling decision for Udoka in this game is whether he goes with Rob Williams off the bench or Daniel Theis, who has played solid basketball in the last two games of the series filling in for Williams. If Williams remains on the bench behind Theis, that’s a sign that he will likely only be used unless there is a dire situation (foul trouble, injury, need for a lob or a rebound) as the team eases him back into action for the next round (if Boston advances). If he gets a chance at some minutes over Theis, the Celtics coaching staff likely feel better about his condition and ability to contribute in short stints.

Either way, having Williams back is a nice boost for Game 7 even if he’s not needed. Given how tight this series has been through six games, Boston can use all the help they can get as they attempt to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.