Rob Williams' Injury Is A Huge Blow For Celtics -- Can They Overcome It?
BOSTON (CBS) -- The joy surrounding the first-place Celtics lasted all of 12 hours. News of Robert Williams' torn meniscus certainly puts a damper on Boston's place in the standings -- and those title aspirations going forward.
The Celtics have been bludgeoning the rest of the NBA for nearly three months, and it wasn't just because Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have been on respective heaters. It was a complete team effort that has led to Boston's incredible turnaround this season, with everyone buying into the team-first mantra that Ime Udoka had been selling since Day 1. The ball movement has been nearly perfect and the defense has been stifling since the calendar flipped to 2022.
Having the ultra-athletic Williams roaming on defense and protecting the rim was a massive part of it all. And now the Celtics will be without his services indefinitely, and it feels like their playoff chances have been furiously sent away like Williams had done to numerous layup attempts throughout the season. But this is much less enjoyable than all of those rejections at the hands of the Time Lord, in addition to all of those lob passes he emphatically put in the cup.
The Celtics still have a very good team and will still make noise in the playoffs, but the road has obviously become a lot harder going forward. The splits with Williams on the floor and Williams off the floor are beyond noticeable. Boston's average points against goes up nearly four points when Williams doesn't play, from 103.1 to 107. The team's point differential sits at plus 7.5 when he is out there, and is plus-4.1 when he isn't.
Just look at Boston's record with and without Williams. The Celtics were 40-21 when Williams suited up, and are 7-7 without him. They're going to have to learn to win without their big man moving forward.
Williams and Horford were a near perfect duo to defend the paint and protect the iron, but others are now going to have to carry that heavy load aside Horford. Al may have to shift to the center position while Grant Williams gets some starts at the four, which will make the Celtics go a lot smaller than they're used to. Or Udoka could turn to Daniel Theis to make some starts alongside Horford, though that will rob Boston of having a solid big off the bench.
None of it is ideal for the Celtics, especially with the postseason so close. It felt like the Celtics were finally going to head into the playoffs with a healthy core for the first time in a long time -- like, 2008, maybe? -- but those dreams have been dashed. The title hopes that have been a product of Boston's 24-4 run over the last 28 games also appear doomed. A deep playoff run is still in the cards, but no longer as likely.
Maybe the Celtics can overcome this massive loss. But the Boston defense is going to take a big hit, which will only decrease the team's margin of error. That margin of error wasn't too big of a concern over the last months thanks to all of the team's 20-point wins, but those will likely become rare occurrences for the Celtics.
The Celtics have done a great job overcoming their early season struggles and adversity, which should still inspire some hope that they can do some damage in the playoffs. While we're pretty sure that Tatum and Brown have what it takes to lead this team to important wins against strong opposition, losing Williams is going to make their jobs -- and everyone else's on the roster -- even more difficult.