As the Boston Celtics prepare to host the Milwaukee Bucks for Game 7 on Sunday, there’s a chance they could get back big man Robert Williams III, who is officially listed as questionable. Williams, who has missed the last three games of this series against the Bucks, has been dealing with left knee soreness, but Boston has upgraded him to questionable for Sunday afternoon’s showdown.
Williams injured his knee after colliding with Bucks superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo in Game 3, and scans of his knee showed that there was no structural damage. This is the same knee Williams had surgery on back in March after tearing his meniscus, which forced him to miss a month. Celtics coach Ime Udoka, however, assured that this injury didn’t stem from the surgery.
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“He got his knee scanned and everything structurally is good.” Udoka said before Game 6 Friday. “Looks fine. The swelling went down but he still had some soreness and pain. Revealed that he has a small bone bruise from collision he took in Game 3. Structurally he’s fine from the surgery; it’s just that’s where the swelling and soreness came from.”
While that doesn’t mean that Williams could suit up, it does essentially mean there’s a 50-50 chance of it happening, which is a good sign for the Celtics. Having Williams available helps give Boston more size to contend with Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has had a dominant series against Boston. In Williams’ absence, Grant Williams has stepped in to fill his shoes, and he’s done an admirable job on defense to make things a bit tougher on Giannis.
It will be interesting to see what Udoka does with the rotation if Robert Williams is healthy, because while having him in there to protect the rim could be beneficial, Grant Williams has been a more versatile defender in this series. It may also be risky to start a player who has missed five of Boston’s 10 playoff games so far with the season on the line. But regardless of how Williams is used if he’s healthy, having him available is better than not, and the Celtics will need every healthy player to try and send Milwaukee home for good Sunday afternoon.
