Robert Williams returned to the Celtics earlier than expected and now has a few days to continue to strengthen his knee as Boston waits for its opponent for the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Williams underwent knee surgery at the end of March to repair a torn meniscus and was able to help the Celtics complete the sweep of the Brooklyn Nets in Games 3 and 4.
Now Boston awaits the winner of the Milwaukee Bucks-Chicago Bulls series, which Milwaukee can lock up Wednesday night with a win in Game 5.
Rest will be crucial for Williams to get as close to 100% as possible for Round 2, and head coach Ime Udoka pinpointed how important the upcoming series and practices will be for the center.
“Physically, he is fine,” Udoka on Wednesday told reporters, per MassLive’s Brian Robb. “The wind I don’t think was quite there those last two games. I said you can scrimmage all you want, there’s no way to really emulate that live game pace and action, and so to get his wind back up will be big this week. Just get some live work in the last few days and just get him built back up so he can get back to his normal rotation, lineups and minutes.”
Williams said he felt “no pain” in his knee after playing last week.
The Celtics could return to action as early as Sunday, and we should expect them to have a full roster.
