There was much speculation that Boston Celtics center Robert Williams could make his season debut Saturday night against the Golden State Warriors.
To be fair, Williams didn’t completely rule it out after throwing down alley-oops in practice Friday ahead of the NBA Finals rematch, and describing himself as “day-to-day” as he works his way back from an arthroscopic procedure he had on his left knee in late September.
But Celtics fans will have to continue to wait for the return of Williams.
Boston officially ruled out the defensive difference-maker against the Warriors, and the Celtics will be without Al Horford for a second straight game as he’s in health and safety protocols.
Williams reportedly has been targeting a return around Christmas, and it doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibility he could see game action for the first time this season when the Celtics close out their West Coast road trip with back-to-back contests against the Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
“Like I said, just day-to-day stuff, you know testing out different things, re-testing things,” Williams told reporters on what he needs to do to play, per NBC Sports Boston. “Trying to get right.”
While Williams said he has checked off “many” of the boxes needed to come back, Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla said the Celtics want to make sure he’s completely comfortable in a couple of different regards.
“The most important thing for Rob is that he’s comfortable where he’s at from a physical conditioning standpoint and from a mindset standpoint that he’s comfortable out there and it’s going to go well for him,” Mazzulla told reporters, per NBC Sports Boston. “I think that’s the most important thing is where he’s at and how he feels. And so, he’s continuing to work at it and when he’s ready, he’s ready.”
The Celtics haven’t had any negative impact from playing shorthanded on occasion this season with Boston owning the NBA’s best record at 21-5.
The Warriors won’t be 100% healthy as Andrew Wiggins will miss the game due to an adductor strain while Golden State will have Steph Curry and Draymond Green available after they sat out Wednesday’s loss to the Utah Jazz.
