Grant Williams shut down Fred VanVleet to help Celtics to Game 7 win

The Celtics rookie had an opportunity to clinch Game 7 at the free-throw line but, instead, he sealed it on the other end of the floor.

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Boston Celtics rookie Grant Williams had an opportunity to clinch Game 7 at the free-throw line. Instead, the seldom-used Williams sealed the victory on the other end of the floor with a strong defensive stance on Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet.

Celtics head coach Brad Stevens turned to Williams in the fourth quarter once the Raptors deployed a small-ball lineup onto the court. Williams logged all seven of his minutes in the period and had a number of key plays but none were bigger than his defense on VanVleet. The moment couldn’t have come at a better time, either.

Before that defensive stand, Williams was sent to the foul line with the Celtics up by two points. Williams missed both shots but the Celtics retained possession following the offensive rebound and Jayson Tatum was fouled. Tatum made one of his two shots to put the Celtics up by three points with 35.4 seconds left.

VanVleet took the ball up the court on the ensuing possession and, after a switch, found Williams matched up on him. VanVleet went to his spot for the difficult game-tying shot but it was partially blocked by Williams and the Celtics held on for the 92-87 win to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Fortunately, Williams managed to redeem himself following the missed free throws with the clutch defensive play on VanVleet. Afterward, Williams also thanked Tatum on Instagram for bailing him out at the free-throw line.

“[Shoutout to Jayson Tatum] for saving my ass on the FT’s,” Williams wrote.

Williams logged 11.5 minutes in the series versus the Raptors, averaging 2.9 points and 1.3 rebounds on 50% shooting (4-of-8) from 3-point range. Williams gives Stevens versatility on the floor when they want to play small and that was crucial at times against Toronto.

Now, the second-seeded Celtics move on to face the fifth-seeded Miami Heat as it marks the first time in NBA history the top two seeds will not meet in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Game 1 between the Celtics and Heat is expected to begin on Tuesday.

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