Boston Celtics teammates Evan Fournier and Robert Williams are getting closer to their respective returns.
Fournier will miss his seventh consecutive game Saturday when the Celtics host the Golden State Warriors at TD Garden. Boston's trade deadline acquisition landed in the league's health and safety protocols and has not played since April 6.
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens did, however, offer an encouraging update before Saturday's game.
"Evan is out of quarantine. I'm guessing he'll be in the gym tonight, I don't know if he'll be out on the court," Stevens told reporters during his pregame video conference. "I saw him this morning. He seemed really happy to be around people and see others, but he still has a few days to go before he goes through all his tests and that stuff. So it's going to be certainly not today, certainly not Monday, and we'll go from there."
The Celtics play Thursday against the Phoenix Suns, which seems to be a possible return game for Fournier.
Williams also has missed each of the last two games due to left knee soreness. That doesn't seem to be a long-term thing either, though.
"He's still just got his small bit of swelling on the back of his knee, but he's getting better. He feels better today," Stevens said. "Again, I don't know what Monday will look like but he's right around the corner from playing. So they re-evaluated him when he got back (from Boston's West Coast trip). He did some more stuff this morning."
Jaylen Brown also won't be playing in Saturday's game due to a non-COVID related illness.
It does seem like things are on the up-and-up for both Fournier and Williams, though. And that's great news seeing how the Celtics finally have started coming into their own with five straight wins and seven victories in their last eight contests.
Boston will look to keep that momentum going with Celtics-Warriors scheduled for 8:30 p.m. ET.
