Boston Celtics: Robert Williams has been the unsung hero of C’s season

Robert Williams is more important to the success of the Boston Celtics than you may think

It’s no coincidence that the Boston Celtics have fallen from their hot streak while Robert Williams has been sidelined.

After winning six straight games and winning eight of their nine contests played from April 2nd through April 17th, the Cs have now lost three of their last four games, including an ugly 21-point loss to the Charlotte Hornets on the road on Sunday.

Boston has had several players miss time over the last few weeks — frankly, for the whole season — but there’s been one common denominator in the team’s last few games: No Robert Williams.

The Time Lord has missed their last six contests, and they’ve gone just 3-3 in that span without him. Before that, Williams had been playing highly efficient ball in his new starting role, and the Celtics were rolling because of that.

Once Williams was inserted into the starting lineup after Daniel Theis was shipped off to Chicago, the shamrocks started winning again after a brutal two-month stretch in February and March.

In 10 starts after that Theis trade, Williams’ minutes jumped to 25.2 per game, and he put up averages of 10.1 points, 9.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and two blocks in that span while shooting 69.2 percent from the floor.

That efficiency sparked the team, and the Boston Celtics were 8-2 in Williams’ 10 starts before he was sidelined in mid-April. They won those games by an average of 10.1 points, and half of those wins were by double digits.

Unfortunately, since Williams has been out of the lineup the team has suffered.

Boston beat a Los Angeles Lakers squad without LeBron James and Anthony Davis in Williams’ first game out, and they held off Golden State despite a monumental performance by Stephen Curry in the second.

That was followed up by a head-scratching loss to Chicago, a 13-point win over the Phoenix Suns, and losses to the Brooklyn Nets and the Hornets.

Yes, Jayson Tatum was a big reason why the Celtics were hot at the beginning of the month, too, and he deserves plenty of credit. Even still, Williams’ contributions shouldn’t go unnoticed, though.

In fact, Boston’s recent struggles just prove that he’s the unheralded gear piece that amps up the team’s production.

This hasn’t just been a recent thing, though. Beantown has been better all year when Williams has been on the floor more.

When the big plays 20 or more minutes, the Boston Celtics are 13-7 this season. They’re 13-14 when Williams is on the floor for less than 20 minutes, and they’re just 6-8 when he doesn’t play at all.

That’s a 19-22 mark when Williams either doesn’t play much or at all this season.

He doesn’t get the attention of Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown, and players like Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart, and Evan Fournier grab more headlines than him.

However, that doesn’t mean Robert Williams isn’t important to Boston’s success. In fact, he’s much more important than you might think.