Boston Celtics: 1 stud and 1 dud from C’s dominating win over Warriors

Boston Celtics stud: Robert Williams III

With every passing day, Robert Williams III manages to make himself look more and more like a future star in this league, and Wednesday night’s showing against Golden State was yet another example of just how immensely talented the big man truly is.

Right from the jump, it seemed like it could wind up being a big game for the Time Lord, as he put up the first two points on the night by means of a swift lob pass from the top of the arc by Marcus Smart, only to then go on to finish off the first period with six boards, four points, and a block.

This would turn out to be just the start for the 24-year-old, especially in the shot-stuffing department.

By the time halftime rolled around, Williams already found himself serving as one of the driving forces for the team’s 16-point advantage (48-32) thanks to his stout defense and all-out hustle that had him gobbling up eight rebounds and swatting three shots.

Now, though the box score may not make it look as though the center did much else from this point on, as his final stat-line for the game was eight points, nine rebounds, four blocks, and an assist, this couldn’t be further from the truth, as his presence alone wound up having a major impact, not just on how Boston played but also how Golden State played.

On numerous occasions, we saw players being forced to alter their shot attempts when Williams was contesting or, even if he was just found in the vicinity of the basket, the Warriors would simply shy away from driving the lane, as the fear of having their shots sent back grew to be too real for their liking.

On the offensive end, while he may have finished with less than 10 points and only notched one assist, his impact was also electric, as he was seen cleaning up the glass on misses (three offensive rebounds), boxing out and sealing off lanes for his teammates, jamming down lob passes, or dishing the rock to help expedite the team’s recent fluid ball movement–who else remembers that side to side overhead dime he beamed to Smart in the third for the wide-open trey?

Despite not finishing with an earth-shattering stat-line by game’s end, Robert Williams was a revelation for the C’s Wednesday night.