Boston Celtics center Robert Williams III is nearly ready to return from an extended absence.
Waylaid by a bone bruise in his hip since early December, the Texas A&M product has been itching to get back in action.
Williams, however, has followed doctor’s orders and stayed entirely away from basketball activities until recently — something which has not sat well with the big man.
Given the go-ahead to gradually increase the intensity of participation in the sort of high-energy, extra-bouncy style of play the shot-blocking rim-runner has made a name for himself with, the Louisianian is expected to return to action on or around the first of March.
That date falls about a week ahead of one of the toughest remaining stretches of schedule left to Boston.
Starting on March 6th, Boston faces the Utah Jazz, Oklahoma City Thunder, Indiana Pacers and Milwaukee Bucks in less than a week’s time.
How is Robert Williams feeling? “Great. I’m ready to play.”
He remains out for the road trip, however.
— Tom Westerholm (@Tom_NBA) February 20, 2020
Luckily for Williams, the two games closest to his anticipated return are against the Brooklyn Nets on Mar. 3 and the Cleveland Cavaliers the following night — two teams with a diverse mix of bigs that the Celtics should beat regardless of how ready Time Lord is to return.
“There’s no limitations on anything I’m doing,” said Williams, reports the Athletic’s Jay King. “I want to windmill every time I dunk, but I’ve still got to be cautious a little bit, you know what I’m saying?”
The Shreveport native might want to get his feet wet against Brooklyn’s Jarrett Allen and now-Cavalier Andre Drummond before he breaks out those windmills in live-game action.
He’ll have some time with the team in the coming weeks to get up to speed on most of his conditioning, though.
Head coach Brad Stevens shared that the former Aggie will join Boston on their west coast road trip even though he won’t play, and will be checked yet again to be sure his healing has remained on track, relates NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg.
The second-year center has been looking good in practice according to Stevens, and with that comes fans’ rising expectations — despite the long absence.
If Celtics fans have been antsy for Time Lord’s return to action, they aren’t alone in daydreaming about how his skillset could help Boston.
Robert Williams did practice. “Rob did a pretty good job today,” Stevens said.
— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) February 20, 2020
Fans should temper expectations given Time Lord´s long break and likely imperfect conditioning. Still, just having another option to deploy against opposing team’s frontcourts will be a boon for the Celtics, even if only for short stints.
Though their frontcourt may be better off than many assumed to start the season, Williams’ unique skillset — particularly a nascent passing game he flashed before his injury — opens up new ways of playing on both ends of the court.
After so long away from the game, it seems being able to contribute to his team on either end of the court can’t come soon enough for the 22-year old big man.
And while it’s hard not to get too excited thinking about what a rejuvenated Time Lord could unleash on Boston’s opponents, it’s not hard at all to be happy to see him back on the court.
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