Celtics' Robert Williams upgraded to available for Game 1 of NBA Finals
BOSTON -- Robert Williams is available for the Celtics in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
Williams was the lone Celtics player listed as questionable on the injury report for Thursday night's game, but was upgraded to available a few hours before the 9:07 p.m. tipoff against the Golden State Warriors. He will start and doesn't have any restrictions, but the Celtics will try to keep Williams at around 20 minutes in Game 1, according to Boston head coach Ime Udoka.
However, Williams can play more than that if needed, per Udoka.
"We've managed him well, keeping him around the 20-minute mark and rotating other guys around that. It's worked for us so far, but if need be, he's on no minutes restriction," Udoka said ahead of Game 1.
Williams has been a game-time decision for most of Boston's playoff run. He returned from his March knee surgery during the first round, but missed the end of the second round against Milwaukee after he suffered a bone bruise courtesy of a collision with Giannis Antetokounmpo. Williams ended up missing Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat, and the Celtics managed his minutes over the final four games of that series.
Williams averaged just over 21 minutes of action over those final four games, and played just 14:42 in Game 7 on Sunday night. The Celtics are hoping that the reduced workload -- plus a few days off between the end of the Eastern Conference Finals -- will help Williams return to something close to his usual form against the Warriors.
"It's manageable," Williams said of his injury on Wednesday. "Kind of been getting in a routine the past couple games, what I have to go through to have myself ready to play."
Williams is a huge difference-maker for the Boston defense, averaging 1.9 blocks per game this postseason after averaging a career-best 2.2 rejections over 61 regular season games. Even when he doesn't block shots, Williams makes opposing scorers give a little extra thought about attacking the basket.
The Warriors listed Gary Payton II (elbow), Andre Iguodala (neck), and Otto Porter (foot) as questionable for Game 1 in San Francisco, and all three are available for Golden State on Thursday night. Both teams will have its full roster available to play in Game 1.
