Amari Williams had seen the floor for the Celtics before in his rookie season before Friday night, but the stakes had never been quite this high.
The two-way center found himself entering the game for the first time in overtime with Neemias Queta and Luka Garza both fouled out. Joe Mazzulla tried going small initially without his usual center duo available. But once Boston had a miraculous rally to force double overtime, the team opted for a more traditional look with Williams manning center.
Needless to say, it’s unusual for a two-way player to get minutes, much less their first ones of the night with the game on the line.
“I knew it was going to be another overtime and you don’t know what kind of lineup he was going with,” Williams said of his mindset. “Just kind of being mentally ready to go in.”
Williams was up to the task in the extra frame, finishing with three points and a crucial block on Nik Claxton to help Boston rally for a 130-126 double overtime win over the Nets.
The performance was all the more remarkable considering that Williams didn’t even know he would be in uniform in Brooklyn until hours before the game. Neemias Queta was a late addition to the injury report due to illness, which led to Williams getting the call-up as he was preparing for a G-League game on Friday.
“I flew in two hours before from Maine,” [Williams told reporters in Brooklyn via CLNS Media](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Il6G-iy7-iM). “I did the shootaround this morning, thought I was going to play there tonight. Neemi wasn’t feeling great so I flew in today. Just trying to be ready for whatever. You don’t really know until you get here if you are going to suit up or not, so just getting ready for whatever.”
The Celtics also would not have gotten to double overtime without some help from Williams. He caught a full-court pass from Sam Hauser and set up Payton Pritchard for a 3-point shot with seven seconds left in the first overtime, opening the door for Hugo Gonzalez to force double overtime with 0.4 seconds remaining.
“It was a good pass by Sam,” Williams said. “Payton called for it before I even caught the ball so I knew where he was. Thankfully it worked out.”
The Celtics have gotten contributions up and down their roster all season long, and Williams was the latest to step up to the challenge on Friday. The 23-year-old has been putting up stellar numbers in Maine all year long but an eventual role in the NBA may not be far away after Friday night.