Boston Celtics: 1 stud and 1 dud from depleting Game 1 loss to Heat

Boston Celtics dud: Grant Williams

After finding himself putting up a career performance in a closeout Game 7 against Milwaukee in round two, one where he dropped 27 points on 39 percent shooting from deep, Grant Williams dropped an absolute dud of a game to start off round three.

As a result of Horford being out, the quasi-big man saw his fifth-straight start of this year’s postseason, filling in at the four and logging 34 minutes on the night.

Sadly, had it not been for the lacking talent pool behind him, it’s almost a guarantee that he wouldn’t have seen as much action as he did, for his struggles, particularly on the defensive end, played a sizeable role in Miami’s second-half comeback.

In the third quarter, Williams scored zero points and committed three personal fouls, two of which resulted in Heat players heading to the line for easy scoring opportunities.

Seemingly gassed (likely from his near 40-minute performance just two games prior), the forward was slow to get to his assignments, easily backed down on, and quite handsy on defense, and ended the night with a lackluster stat-line of seven points, two assists, one rebound, two turnovers, and five fouls while also registering a lowly plus-minus rating of -14 (second-lowest on the game).

Moving forward, in order for the Boston Celtics to have their best shot of winning this series, they’re going to need Grant Williams to tap into his regular-season self and serve as that trusty 3-and-D presence we know he is.