BOSTON — The playoffs haven’t been the easiest on Celtics forward Grant Williams.
Nevertheless, while seated on Boston’s bench for most of its postseason run, the 24-year-old has patiently waited for the occasion to step up. And that’s exactly what Williams did for the Celtics during their 121-87 victory to even up their Eastern Conference semifinals series with the 76ers at 1-1.
Williams got the nod from head coach Joe Mazzulla early, entering the contest at 5:09 in the first quarter.
“Grant plays a role on our team,” Mazzulla said. “When he plays, when he shoots the ball at a clip and doesn’t pass it up as we need him to shoot it, and he did a great job of that tonight. And he just has the ability to guard different guys and execute different matchups and different coverages for us. At his best, just brings a level of physicality and a level of poise to our team. I thought he did a great job of that tonight.”
With a similar approach to that of the regular season, Williams’ patience was rewarded and it benefited the Celtics in a key way as well.
In the second quarter, Williams got on the board and knocked a 3-point attempt to put Boston ahead of Philadelphia, 40-30. On the defensive end, Williams also got involved, grabbing four rebounds and also recording a steal off a poor pass from Georges Niang with the C’s leading by 32 points in the final frame.
Williams finished the night scoring 12 points off the bench while also dishing out four assists in 19 minutes, serving as one of just several key contributors who uplifted Jayson Tatum from an uncharacteristic night (seven points, 1-of-7 from the field).
With the series heading down to Philadelphia for Game 3, perhaps Williams put forth a persuasive bid to earn himself some more playing time in the best-of-seven matchup.
