Ex-Celtic Robert Williams makes NBA history with wild stat line

Ex-Celtic Robert Williams makes NBA historical past with wild stat line initially appeared on NBC Sports activities Boston

When you’re a Celtics fan searching for a pick-me-up after Boston’s beautiful NBA Cup loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday, we now have three phrases for you: Robert Williams highlights.

The previous Celtics large man missed the Portland Path Blazers’ first 9 video games whereas recovering from offseason knee surgical procedure however returned to the court docket final Friday, recording 13 factors on 4 of 5 capturing in his 2024-25 season debut.

On Tuesday evening, nevertheless, Williams delivered one of the crucial spectacular stat traces of his NBA profession to this point.

The seventh-year large man racked up 19 factors on 9 of 10 capturing whereas including 9 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks in 25 minutes off the bench to assist Portland upset the Minnesota Timberwolves in NBA Cup play.

Based on Basketball Reference’s Stathead, Williams is simply the second participant in NBA historical past to document a minimum of 15 factors, three blocks and three steals in a recreation whereas capturing a minimum of 90 p.c from the ground. The opposite? Corridor of Famer James Worthy in 1983.

Williams was at his high-flying finest on Tuesday evening, throwing down thunderous dunks off lob passes whereas defending the rim with a number of blocks. (Try full recreation highlights right here.)

Celtics followers keep in mind this model of “Time Lord” properly; the C’s first-round choose in 2018 (twenty seventh general) blossomed right into a dynamic rim-runner in Boston and performed a key position within the workforce’s run to the 2022 NBA Finals. He averaged a close to double-double (10 factors and 9.6 rebounds per recreation) through the 2021-22 season whereas incomes Second Staff All-Protection honors.

Sadly, accidents have been Williams’ Achilles heel. That 2021-22 season was the one time he performed greater than 60 video games in a single marketing campaign, and he appeared in simply six video games for the Blazers final season earlier than struggling a season-ending knee harm.

Williams might not be lengthy for Portland; he has a really tradeable contract (4 years, $48 million) and will draw curiosity from NBA contenders forward of the February commerce deadline if he can keep wholesome. Wherever Williams finally ends up, although, this is hoping harm luck is on his aspect so we will witness extra highlights like those he delivered Tuesday evening.