With each passing day, Robert Williams III inches closer and closer to his return to the Boston Celtics. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN gave the latest update on Williams’ impending return during the December 7 episode of NBA Today.
“He’s been practicing. He’s made great progress on that offseason surgery. The timeline right now is still potentially 10 to 12 days, but don’t rule out the possibility that Robert Williams wakes up one day and decides he’s ready to return. We expect he’ll be back before Christmas, but Boston’s defense, which was no. 1 in the league last season, certainly is going to get a great bump when they get Robert Williams back here in the very near future,” Wojnarowski said.
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Williams is coming off a season in which his efforts led to him getting a nod on the NBA All-Defensive Second Team as well as helping the Celtics make their first NBA Finals since 2010. He last played for the Celtics in Game 6 of the 2022 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors.
Joe Mazzulla Provided Update on Williams
Before the Celtics took on the Brooklyn Nets on December 4, Celtics interim head coach Joe Mazzulla gave reporters an update on Williams’ impending return, saying that the center was “pretty close” to making his season debut.
“He went through another session today. He’s progressing really well,” Mazzulla said. “Pretty close to returning, along with the timeline. It’s just a matter of getting him back conditioning-wise and making sure he’s comfortable and ready to go.”
Mazzulla also made it a point that the Celtics want him to be in game shape when he returns.
“Just making sure he’s in shape. Making sure his conditioning is there. Making sure he feels good. We just want to make sure that he’s in the right place when he comes back. He’s doing a great job, doing the best he can,” Mazzulla said.
Joe Mazzulla says Robert Williams is “pretty close to returning”
The Celtics have managed quite well without Williams, sporting a record of 20-5 despite not having him and not playing Al Horford on back-to-backs. When Williams makes his season debut for the Celtics, the team could decide to bring him back slowly into the mix or they may immediately give him his job back playing alongside Horford in the team’s starting frontcourt.
Al Horford Out Against Phoenix
After missing the Celtics’ game against the Raptors on December 6 due to lower back soreness, Horford will miss the Celtics’ game against the Phoenix Suns.
Since being traded back to the Celtics in 2021, Horford has gone through multiple periods of missing games due to being placed in Health and Safety protocols. At times, the timing has been very unfortunate for the Celtics, as he missed Game 1 of the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat for that very reason.
This is the first game that Horford has missed this season that has not been on the backend of a back-to-back. Over the last several games in which Horford did not play, the Celtics have had Blake Griffin to fill in for him at center. The Celtics are 4-0 in those games, but record-wise, the Celtics will be taking on their toughest opponent without Horford in the mix against the Suns, who are 16-8.
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Celtics Receive Key Update on Impending Return of Robert Williams: Report