Stay the course
Timeline still the same for Rob Williams
Though there has been some musing about the possibility Rob Williams will return to action ahead of schedule, Ime Udoka said the Celtics are sticking to the center’s original four-to-sixweek return window from knee surgery.
“Yeah, I mean, the four-tosix week timetable is what it is. But guys will come back in three – (when) Javonte Green was here and came back in three weeks and was jumping out of the gym still,” Udoka said of the former Celtic. “So everybody kind of reacts to it differently and so we’re not ruling him out because of that, but as I’ve said, we anticipate playing the first round without him.
“He’s doing well and he has been since the surgery,” he said. “I mentioned that he was in great spirits immediately. Think he might have been more scared about it than anything and realized what it was afterwards, being his first surgery. But it went as well as it could go. He’s doing two-a-days back in Boston and everybody reacts differently so can’t anticipate a date. But barring any setback or swelling or anything like that, we hope to have him back sooner than later.”
Seeding madness
Milwaukee sat most of its regulars, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, and paid for it with a loss to Cleveland Sunday afternoon, leaving the Celtics with a simple task.
Beat Memphis, nail down the Eastern Conference’s second seed, and wait for the winner of the Brooklyn/ Cleveland play-in game. The cynical among us believe the Bucks’ personnel choices in their blowout loss may have been connected to an aversion to playing against the Nets in a first round series.
Udoka had no such worries about playing his full lineup in Sunday’s season finale in Memphis, a team that, due to its hold on the West’s second seed and Ja Morant’s return Saturday night from injury, sat four of its five starters against the Celtics for health purposes.
“We looked at every scenario, (and) what we kind of concluded was, let’s do what we do. And helping, playing our best basketball, as I’ve mentioned, is the main focus,” Udoka said before the Memphis game. “And so with all the variables in the plan and teams behind us still jockeying, it’s hard to manipulate anything and so the main thing we said is physically be right, take care of our guys health-wise, and if that’s getting more minutes, or playing less, we can determine that tonight.
“We’ve talked about it and looked at all scenarios. And it’s not all relied on what we do. Other teams can affect that as well. And so, obviously, Milwaukee, Philadelphia still playing,” he said. “I mean we haven’t predetermined, gone into anything. There’s still seedings and standings that we can play for. And so, play the game normal, normal as planned, and then see what happens from there.”
It’s better than attempting to dodge a specific playoff opponent, said Udoka.
“Everybody’s talking about Brooklyn, but they have a play-in game to win.
Certain teams can run from certain teams and end up that team not even be in there, so we’ll do what we do and kind of let chips fall where they may,” he said. “It can happen, especially this year where it’s not cut and dry, where if you win this game, you play this team where you lose this game, you play this team. That’s not how it is still. With the play in, that changes obviously, one and two, who the one and two seed play, and even our situation now with Philadelphia possibly moving up or us moving back, so can’t really determine that. It’s not cut-and-dry based on your opponent, based on the win or loss.”
Celtics sign Juwan Morgan
The Celtics signed Juwan Morgan to full their final roster spot. He had been with the team on a 10-day contract, to a two-year deal with the second year unguaranteed. The talented wing player was a star for the Maine Red Claws this season.
“It was a guy that’s played well with our G league team all year,” said Udoka. “We had him in training camp, obviously, and he’s another guy that can do a lot of what we’re doing versatility-wise. We’ve had a chance to look at some different positions and different players and what he does fits well with our group.”