Williams could miss 7-10 days with hamstring strain
Williams suffered injury in Friday's loss to Nets
After missing a significant chunk of the season recovering from knee surgery, Robert Williams seemed to be gaining some momentum on the health front recently. But the Celtics center has run into another roadblock.
Williams could miss 7-10 days of action with a left hamstring strain, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said on Sunday. The Celtics’ starting center suffered the injury in Friday’s loss to the
Nets, when he left the game early in the third quarter and did not return.
“I think they said 7-10 days or so, but those things can change depending upon how quickly he can get back to sprinting,” Mazzulla said. “So, just kind of have to see.”
Williams missed the first 29 games of the season after having left knee surgery prior to training camp and had missed seven games after that managing the knee and also dealing with a left ankle issue. Given his history and importance to this Celtics team, it’s obviously in their best interest to work him back cautiously.
“I think he’s done a good job of his rehab and coming back and working through stuff,” Mazzulla said. “So, we’re not going to rush him by any means. But when he’s healthy we need him and we want to play him. So, whenever he comes back, we’ll be ready.”
Williams’ injury is a difficult blow for the Celtics, who have been trying to get their intended starting five of Williams, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Al Horford on the floor together to gain chemistry and momentum going into the playoffs. That group has only played 81 minutes together and still have clear work to do to get back to last season’s level that helped them reach the NBA Finals, especially after they were largely responsible for coughing up a 28-point lead in Friday’s loss to Brooklyn.
Williams started five consecutive games coming out of the All-Star break — reaching the 30-minute mark twice — before his injury. He acknowledged that he’s been encouraged by his physical shape and was hoping to keep it rolling, but will have to deal with the frustrations of something popping up again.
“I don’t know how hard it is for him,” Mazzulla said. “I do know he’s done a great job this year of getting to a point where he was healthy, he was on the floor, and working through stuff. So I trust he’ll be able to do that with this as well.”
Derrick White started in place of Williams as the Celtics went with a smaller look to open Sunday’s game against the Knicks.
Need for improvement
The Celtics still boast a defense that ranks fourth in the NBA, but it’s been declining of late. Entering Sunday’s game against the Knicks, their defensive rating of 115.3 over their previous 10 games was good for 18th in the league. Mazzulla acknowledged that slippage.
“Just kind of not guarding the ball as well as we should,” Mazzulla said. “Our lack of offensive execution at times affects our transition defense. Our foul rate isn’t where it was at the beginning of the year. So we’ve just got to get back to the details of being just more solid and then just really honing in on our individual defense.”
Injury report
Malcolm Brogdon missed his second consecutive game with right ankle soreness. … Knicks standout guard Jalen Brunson — averaging 23.9 points and 6.2 assists per game this season — missed Sunday’s matchup due to foot soreness. …
Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell, who scored 44 points at TD Garden in his team’s loss to the Celtics last week, is questionable for Monday night’s rematch in Cleveland due to a left finger sprain.