Celtics

‘He’s doing more every day’: Robert Williams makes progress to 3-on-3 work

The Celtics are still planning to be without Williams against the Nets.

By Tom Westerholm

April 20, 2022

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Celtics big man Robert Williams continues to progress toward a return, although the team still doesn’t plan to have him against the Nets in their first-round series.

Williams — who underwent surgery to trim a torn meniscus last month — is back on the court doing some workouts, according to Ime Udoka.

“[He’s] getting some three-on-three up a little bit,” Udoka said on Wednesday prior to Game 2. “He’s doing more every day. It’s a comfort level thing with him. The risk is injury, swelling or something like that coming off of surgery. Little bit of pain tolerance and how well his body reacts to the up level physically. Doing a little more, getting out there on the court and looking good at times. We ease it up the next day if he has a heavy session.

“We’re still planning on playing without him, but happy with his progress.”

Williams’ return after surgery was expected to be 4-to-6 weeks, and he underwent his procedure on March 30. Last week, Brad Stevens told 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Toucher & Rich the Celtics are “comfortable” with his projected timeline, making Wednesday’s game three weeks out from his surgery. A potential Game 5 would fall on the precise four-week mark.

Nets forward Ben Simmons, meanwhile, is reportedly expected back for Game 4.

“Myself, coaching him in the past and a lot of guys in general — a lot of them played against him recently in a series, two years ago in the bubble, and Al played with him,” Udoka said. “So a lot of us know him well enough. When it’s time to talk about what he does, I don’t think it’s a problem for our guys. We have a group that’s seen him quite a bit.”