Celtics And Robert Williams III Receive A Huge Injury Update
The Boston Celtics, who currently own the league’s best record at 22-7 this season, will be getting a key part of their rotation back and a player who could very well be the difference in them potentially winning a championship on Friday against the Orlando Magic.
Robert Williams III, who has missed Boston’s first 29 games of the 2022-23 season due to offseason knee surgery, is expected to make his debut against the Magic on Friday, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.
Shams Charania: “Boston Celtics All-Defensive center Robert Williams will make his season debut Friday vs. the Orlando Magic, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.”
Williams, 25, did not see the floor much during the first two seasons of his career, but the Celtics began to utilize him during the 2020-21 season and Williams really took a big leap forward in his career a season ago.
Making the All-Defensive Second Team for the first time in his career last season, Williams very quickly became the anchor for the Celtics, one of the best defensive teams in the league, and he emerged as one of the best rim-protectors in the NBA.
Suffering a meniscus injury near the end of the 2021-22 regular season, Robert Williams missed about a month’s worth of action before returning for the Celtics in the middle of their first-round playoff series against the Brooklyn Nets.
However, it was clear to see that throughout the playoffs, Williams was not 100 percent.
Having time to recover from offseason knee surgery and having time to get back in shape during the early portion of the 2022-23 season, Williams now returns to the Celtics lineup.
While it has not yet been said, it is expected that Robert Williams will be on a strict minute restriction through the end of 2022 and heading into the first few weeks of 2023.
In 61 games a season ago, Williams averaged 10.0 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.2 blocks per game, starting in all 61 games he played in for the Celtics.
Currently listed as questionable to play against the Magic, Williams will very likely be making his season debut on Friday assuming he does not suffer any setbacks in pre-game shootaround.
Be sure to catch up on the newest episode of The Fast Break Podcast hosted by Fastbreak's own Brett Siegel!
Streaming on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, The Fast Break Podcast takes you inside the league with the latest news, intel, rumors and interviews from those close to the action for all 30 teams. Be on the lookout for a new episodes every Friday.
