Marcus Smart out for Game 4, Robert Williams available for Celtics
BOSTON -- The Celtics got some good news and some bad news on the injury front for Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Robert Williams will return to the Boston lineup on Monday night, but Marcus Smart will miss the game with a right ankle sprain.
Smart tried to test the ankle ahead of Monday's game, but Celtics head coach Ime Udoka described his starting point guard as "quite swollen" during his pre-game press conference.
Losing Smart isn't the best news for the Celtics, as they look to even the series against the Miami Heat with a win on Monday. Smart rolled his ankle in the second half of Saturday night's Game 3 loss, but returned to finish the game. He scored 16 points and dished out seven assists over 37 minutes in Game 3, and is averaging 20 points, 9.5 assists and 6.5 rebounds for the series.
Smart sat out Game 1 against Miami with a mid-foot sprain that he suffered in Game 7 against the Bucks. For the postseason, Smart is averaging 15.8 points off 42 percent shooting to go with 6.8 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game.
Derrick White will start in Smart's place in Game 4. White got the start for Smart in Game 1 and finished with three points and four assists over his 28 minutes of action.
While Smart is out, Williams is returning to the starting lineup after he missed Game 3 due to knee soreness. He scored 18 points and pulled down nine rebounds in Game 1, and had five points, four rebounds and three blocks in Game 2 against the Heat.
Williams missed the last four games of Boston's Eastern Conference Semifinals wins over the Milwaukee Bucks with bone bruise in his knee. He is averaging 7.7 points, 5.3 assists and 2.0 blocks over his seven games this postseason.
Miami announced earlier Monday that guard Tyler Herro would miss Game 4 with a groin injury.
