Getty Jayson Tatum playing against the Sacramento Kings
After missing the last 11 games for the Boston Celtics, Robert Williams made his return to the rotation, helping his team overcome the Sacramento Kings in a 132-109 victory on March 21.
Williams, 25, has struggled for fitness this season, playing in just 29 games for the Celtics, but it’s clear that he raises their defensive ceiling when he’s in the rotation. When speaking to the media following the game, Jayson Tatum discussed how Boston is a more well-rounded team when Williams is on the court.
“Obviously, we’re a lot bigger when he’s out there,” Tatum said. “It just makes us much more dynamic, I feel like, his presence, even if he’s not blocking shots, maybe he’s deterring people away from attacking the basket. He’s grabbing rebounds. Giving second and third-chance opportunities. Obviously, a lob threat. So, it was just great to have the whole team out there. Obviously, we didn’t have P [Payton Pritchard], but having the starters and having Rob back, we’re just a different team.”
In his first game back from a hamstring injury, Williams scored 6 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and registered a blocked shot while going 2-of-4 from the field.
Joe Mazzulla Isn’t Satisfied
The Celtics have now ended their six-game road trip with four wins and two losses, yet, it would appear that head coach Joe Mazzulla isn’t satisfied with the results, as he explained during his post-game press conference.
“If it wasn’t nine games before the end of the regular season… and we went 4-2, everybody would be happy”
Joe Mazzulla talks about why going 4-2 over the road trip doesn’t satisfy him
“I mean if it wasn’t nine games before the regular season is over, and if we weren’t in first place for the entire year, and this road trip was at the beginning of the year and we were four-and-two, everyone would be happy,” Mazzulla said. “So, we have to maintain a level of perspective. Understand this was a hard trip. There were moments where we played really, really good basketball, and there were moments that we didn’t. I think we learned from that. Tonight we were able to put a full 48 minutes together, and I think that’s something that we gotta continue.”
The Celtics have now moved one game ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers to take control of the second seed in the Eastern Conference, but they still sit two games behind the Milwaukee Bucks in the race for the first seed.
Jaylen Brown Discusses ‘Energy Shift’
With their March 21 win, the Celtics defeated one of the most in-form teams in the NBA and ensured Boston’s road trip ended on a positive note. When speaking to Abby Chin of NBC Sports Boston on the sidelines after the game, Jaylen Brown pointed to the victory as proof of what the Celtics are capable of and noted how the energy of the team could be shifting gear.
“That looks like the team I recognize”
@tvabby talks with Jaylen Brown on the big win. He says there’s “an energy shift on the way”
“That looked like the team I recognize,” Brown said. “We came out; we played 48 minutes, we didn’t take our foot off the gas. We took care of business. [We] ended the road trip well…We’re going into spring, winter is over, so there’s definitely an energy shift on the way, so we just got to take advantage of our opportunities and do what we do best.”
Comments
Jayson Tatum Issues Statement on Robert Williams After Celtics Beat Kings