Boston Celtics: 3 takeaways from C’s major victory over Cleveland
The Boston Celtics picked up a much-needed win over the COVID-ridden Cleveland Cavaliers, winning by a final score of 111-101.
This win brought the C’s to .500 on the year at 16-16, putting them one game back in the loss column from the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.
After a surprising hardship exception signing of Joe Johnson earlier in the day, the 7x All-Star’s career came full circle, as Iso Joe scored another midrange jumper after three years out of the league.
The 40-year-old, who began his career in Boston before being traded midway through his rookie campaign, has an opportunity to end his career where it all began.
The surprising third-place Cavaliers had key players such as Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen in health and safety protocols, forcing them to start former Celtic Tacko Fall at center. This caused the Cavs to stay in the game throughout the first quarter despite their horrid shooting performance, as they grabbed six offensive rebounds in the first period alone.
Despite multiple comeback efforts, the Boston Celtics simply outshot their opposition, shooting 46.7 percent from the field on the night. Comparatively, Cleveland failed to hit the 40 percent threshold, finishing at 39.1 percent on the same amount of attempts.
This game showed a lot about the future of the C’s season, so let’s look at 3 takeaways from the contest:
Boston Celtics takeaway No. 1) The dominance of Robert Williams
Robert Williams has been forced into a much larger role over the past few weeks, with both Al Horford and Grant Williams sidelined.
In 34 minutes on the night, Williams recorded 21 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists, two blocks, and two steals. It was one of his most complete performances as a pro, as he set a new career-high in points.
Known for his high-flying ability and athleticism, Williams had multiple impressive finishes around the rim. The alley-oop between him and Marcus Smart has become some of the most consistent offense for this Celtics team, with Rob being able to catch anything thrown around the rim.
Matched up with the 7-6 Messiah, Fall’s size didn’t seem to bother the Time Lord as he wasn’t taken advantage of on the offensive end. Despite the high differential, Williams is much quicker and has a higher vertical leap, with Fall unable to deter the alley-oop offense.
The fourth-year center showed more than just his usual rim-running however, as he showcased what he can do with the ball in his hands. He finished both this full-court fastbreak with a euro step dunk and found multiple cutters for easy assists from the elbow.
Similar to Horford, Williams is developing into an impressive and intelligent passer in the half-court offense. If he can limit his reckless turnovers after grabbing defensive rebounds, and focus on pure court vision at either the top of the key or the free-throw line, he can take Boston’s ball movement to another level.
He has the physical skills to become one of the best centers in the league, he just has to do it on a consistent basis.