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Robert Williams has been a revelation since being inserted into the Celtics‘ starting lineup following the Daniel Theis trade. The Texas A&M product has been a stat sheet stuffer, scoring with absurd efficiency in the paint while flashing upper-echelon skills as a passer and on the defensive end of the court. However, on Tuesday night, Joel Embiid knocked the Williams hype down a few pegs.
Time Lord struggled to match Embiid’s physicality, quickly falling into foul trouble. Williams committed three fouls within the first quarter and played a total of just 14 minutes before fouling out of the game in the fourth quarter. With limited minutes from Williams and no Tristan Thompson to deploy behind him, Embiid did what he’s done all season against the Celtics — toyed with them.
Embiid scored 35 points on the night, shooting 9-for-19 from the field and knocking down 16 of his 20 free throw attempts. In return, the Sixers swept their season series with the Celtics this season, thanks in large part to their perennial All-Star center’s efforts. In three games against Boston this season, Embiid has scored 115 points on 60.4% shooting, while attempting an absurd 56 free throws, just two fewer than the C’s entire roster.
Following the game, Embiid made no qualms about his dominance. “I’m usually critical about myself but, tonight I thought I was great,” the MVP candidate proclaimed.
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Twitter Mocks Celtics’ Inability to Contain Embiid
Embiid wasn’t the only one to take notice of his own stellar play. However, Twitter opted to focus their attention on the Celtics bigs who failed to contain him, leading to some harsh, yet comical takes.
Coach Stevens & Jayson Tatum React to Time Lord’s Rough Outing
While Williams certainly took his lumps against Embiid, head coach Brad Stevens believes Tuesday’s game will serve as a good teaching moment for the 23-year-old.
“Rob’s got a lot of work on but, he’s a guy that’ll get better,” said Stevens. “I knew coming into the game, my biggest concern with Rob was him staying on the court. He’s got to get better with his hands as far as keeping his hands straight up, and those types of things, but you see Embiid’s got all the tricks, and he takes advantage of every little bump. He did that to everybody on our team, not just Rob, but, if I had to guess, going into this game, Rob was probably gonna foul a few times in the first couple of minutes, which is just part of it.”
Jayson Tatum — who was the subject of his own criticism following the loss — relayed Stevens’ assessment of Williams, while sharing some encouraging words of his own for his Celtics teammate.
“We all have tough nights, tough games where things didn’t necessarily go our way, so don’t get discouraged,” Tatum said. “We’ve all been there. I’ve been there plenty of times. But we got a game tomorrow and he’ll be ready.”
The Celtics will take on the New York Knicks on Wednesday night in TD Garden as they try and keep pace in the East. Currently owning a record of 25-26, the Cs sit in eighth place in the conference.
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