Grant Williams comes up big in Celtics’ home-opening victory
Boston beats defending champion Toronto Raptors 112-106.
Grant Williams corralled an offensive rebound, dished a pass to teammate Jayson Tatum in the corner, and started running down the court. By the time the ball left Tatum’s hands, Williams was already facing the other direction on his way to play defense. After passing the three-point line, he peered around just in time to watch Tatum’s shot hit nothing but net to give the Celtics a 76-75 lead with 95 seconds remaining in the third quarter of Friday night’s home opener at TD Garden. “I was like, ‘It’s going in, like, please let this happen,’” Williams said after Boston’s 112-106 victory over the defending champion Toronto Raptors. “I’ve seen the guys do it on TV.”The rookie’s candid remarks are a reminder of how new Williams is to the league. Friday marked the 20-year-old’s second NBA game, one in which he logged 22 minutes off the bench. With a Marcus Smart-esque stat line, Williams finished with four points on 2-for-9 shooting, four assists, and seven rebounds — six of which came on the offensive glass and generated seven second-chance points. He also earned a team-high four screen assists, which yielded 10 points. Screen assists track screens made for a teammate that directly lead to made field goals by that teammate. “Rook came out and balled,” said forward Jaylen Brown. “He did a lot of great stuff, a lot of winning plays. Stuff like that, it’s going to be hard not to put him on the floor.”
Where Williams perhaps had his greatest impact was the defensive end, where he continued to display his Smart-like prowess. Given the Celtics’ fluid situation at center and Enes Kanter’s left knee contusion, coach Brad Stevens said he texted Williams the night before: “You better know all of the [center position] by tomorrow.” The response? “Got you, Coach.”
Although Williams, at 6-foot-6, is considered undersized, he proved to be a capable defender in Boston’s small-ball lineups against Toronto’s Pascal Siakam and Marc Gasol. Siakam turned in 33 points on 50 percent shooting, while Gasol was held without a field goal, scoring his only point at the free-throw line.
“He has great energy,” said point guard Kemba Walker. “He’s super tough. He wants that. He wants those battles. He wanted to guard Marc. He did an unbelievable job. He was great. We’re going to need that. He’s going to have to grow up fast.”
Stevens highlighted Williams’s physicality, noting his strength can make up for his lack of size. Williams said he’s comfortable at center, having gained some experience both at Tennessee and in high school. Regardless of where Stevens has him in the rotation, Williams said he tries to “play with the heart and motor that most guys don’t play with” and “bring a different dimension.”
“Being that little short guy that people don’t think is that tough, you kind of just get the competitiveness and that mentality to do whatever it takes,” he said.
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