Robert Williams will return for Game 3 of Celtics-Nets

Celtics The Celtics will have lob threat Robert Williams back for Game 3 in their first-round series against the Nets. AP Photo/Steven Senne

If the Celtics didn’t already have enough good news being up 2-0 in their first-round series against the Nets, they received even more good news ahead of Game 3.

Center Robert Williams will make his return on Saturday, Celtics coach Ime Udoka told reporters pregame. He won’t start, though, and will come off the bench. Udoka also said that he’ll play Williams in spurts and that he’ll have a minutes restriction of 20-24 minutes.

Williams’s return for Game 3 is actually a bit ahead of schedule from the initial timeline the Celtics gave him to return. After he tore the meniscus in his left knee on March 27 against the Timberwolves, the Celtics announced that Williams would miss four-to-six weeks following his surgery on March 30. The four-week mark from the surgery isn’t actually until Wednesday, April 27, which is also when Game 5 is scheduled to be played (if necessary).

While Williams is returning earlier than expected, Udoka shared that his starting center played in “some good 20-25 minute” scrimmages in order to get cleared to return.

Williams was certainly a key component to why the Celtics had the best defensive rating in the NBA during the regular season. In his first full season as a starter, he averaged 2.2 blocks per game and led the league in individual defensive rating (102.4). He also averaged 10 points and 9.6 rebounds in 29.6 minutes per game.

Center/forward Daniel Theis has mostly started in Williams’s place since the injury on March 27. Boston has gone 6-3 in those games, including the two playoff wins over Brooklyn.

The Celtics didn’t have the greatest defensive performance in Game 1, allowing 114 points in the win. They also weren’t too sharp either to start Game 2, giving up 65 first-half points to the Nets. But the Celtics’ defense locked up the Nets in the second half, giving up just 29 points in the first 20 minutes of the half. They also didn’t give up a field goal to Nets star Kevin Durant in the half, who went 0-for-10 from the field. Kyrie Irving also scored just 10 points in Game 2.

With Williams back in the fold, we’ll see if the Celtics can get a repeat performance on defense to go up 3-0 or if the Nets can get on the board in the series before welcoming back a top player of their own.

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