Celtics
“You have to be prepared at any moment.”
Jimmy Butler had Grant Williams right where he wanted him.
With nine minutes left in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Butler put his newfound nemesis in his sights once again, backing him down low before twisting around for his trademark fadeaway jumper.
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But after getting burned repeatedly by the Heat’s franchise star just four days ago, Williams was ready to counter Butler’s mid-range attempt. The Celtics forward swatted away Butler’s shot, gathering the rebound and keeping what was a nine-point lead intact.
But as he made his way down the floor at Kaseya Center, Williams opted to hold off from any spirited chirps and jeers directed toward Butler.
Clearly, the scrappy forward learned his lesson from Game 2. And with Boston’s season on the line, Williams opted to let his play do the talking.
Jayson Tatum’s second-half surge (25 of his 34 points came after halftime) might have lifted Boston to a season-saving victory, but Williams’ contributions off the bench can’t be overlooked.
Williams made the most of the 29 minutes Joe Mazzulla handed him on Wednesday, sinking four of his six shots from 3-point range en route to 14 points. Along with his swat against Butler, Williams reeled in six rebounds (two offensive) to go along with two assists and a steal.
“We love Grant,” Marcus Smart said following Boston’s 116-99 win. “We love everything he brings to this team. You need a guy like Grant to win.”
Williams’ sharpshooting helped Boston right the ship in terms of its greatest offensive strength.
After connecting on just 29.2% of their attempts from beyond the arc through the first three games of this series, Boston sank 18 of its 45 3-point looks in Game 4.
In games where the 2022-23 Celtics have shot at least 40% from 3-point range, they are 37-2.
In games where it dips below that threshold? They are 29-31.
“I think the pace is what really helped us,” Williams said postgame of Boston’s 3-point woes sorting itself out. “Defensively, it allowed us to get out in transition and allowed [us] to make that work. If it wasn’t for our defense honing in on them, we probably wouldn’t have gotten a lot of those open looks.
“We did a good job of just playing with one another when it comes to getting downhill and making sure we made the right reading with kick-outs. We made the extra pass, extra play. We didn’t take the first three that was available, we took the best three that was available.”
The Celtics needed their 3-point shooting to progress back to the mean if they wanted to bring this series back to Boston. But it also needed a stingier defensive effort in order to negate the inevitable pushes generated by Butler and the Heat.
Williams carried out those defensive duties beyond whatever his baseline stats read, especially in terms of steering both Butler and Bam Adebayo away from the paint.
“We had an empty possession stretch in both halves where we continued to defend at a high level,” Mazzulla said of Boston’s defensive intensity. “And so I think it’s a combination of defending at a high level, regardless of if those [3-pointers] go in. But obviously, when they go in, they help. And it makes things a little bit easier for us.”
Williams’ defensive fortitude helped him become a game-changer off the bench during last year’s Eastern Conference Finals victory against this same Heat team.
Along with averaging close to nine points and 30.4 minutes per contest over that seven-game slugfest, Williams helped clamp down interior threats like Adebayo as Boston’s top option off the bench.
This postseason hasn’t been as kind to Williams, beyond his failed attempt to knock Butler off his game last Thursday.
Through three rounds of playoff action, Williams has not touched the floor in five of Boston’s 17 games.
Some of that might be matchup-based as far as Mazzulla’s lineup tinkering, especially in Boston’s earlier matchups against the Hawks and 76ers.
But if Boston wants to continue to climb out of its 1-3 deficit against Miami, more minutes for Williams has to be a necessity.
“I think for me, it’s just a matter of maintaining perspective,” Williams said of his playing time. You never know what your role may be one night. So you got to make sure that you prepare for whatever that is for your teammates. … You have to be prepared at any moment.
“So there might be a night where I’m asked to play 30 [minutes]. There might be a night where Malcolm [Brogdon] is. I have to do just as good of a job on the court as I am off. Be great teammates like Blake [Griffin], Malcolm — those guys were for me tonight.”
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