BOSTON — Before Monday night, Celtics rookie Amari Williams had limited NBA minutes to his name, spending most of this year with the team’s G League affiliate in Maine. When the opportunity finally arrived against the Trail Blazers, the 23-year-old made the most of it.
Williams logged a career-high 25:53 minutes in Boston’s 102-94 win over Portland, leaving a strong impression in the process.
“I thought Amari did a great job today,” Jaylen Brown said. “I thought he looked exceptional. He came out, protected the rim, and was where he was supposed to be for the most part. Amari made it easy for us tonight, but any given night — depending on how the team is playing us — that communication has to be great.”
Originally, the Celtics rolled with Neemias Queta at starting center. But coach Joe Mazzulla made the substitution at 7:27 in the first quarter, swapping Queta out for Williams. Two minutes and 38 seconds later, Williams ran a pick-and-roll with Derrick White, cut, and found an easy two-handed dunk without a Trail Blazers defender in sight.
Gradually, through each passing possession, Williams grew more and more comfortable. He attacked the rim, challenged Portland’s Donovan Clingan and Robert Williams III for rebounds, and walked away having nearly notched a double-double, with nine points and seven rebounds. Teammates, both on the floor and watching from the sideline, got a glimpse of what Williams could bring to the table, and they were impressed.
“His rebounding and boxing out, protecting the rim — and we got to use Amari more for his passing ability because he can really pass,” Payton Pritchard said.
Pritchard mentioned that limited practice runs with Williams make it difficult to get him up to speed. That makes his acclimation process a two-way street, as the weight doesn’t lie solely on Williams; it’s also on everyone in the locker room to adapt and help maximize Williams’ usage on the floor. Sometimes that looks like running pick-and-rolls to catch opposing defenses sleeping. Other times, it’s Williams hovering around the paint to generate offensive looks without ever touching the ball.
For someone who hasn’t spent most of the season with the team, it could be overwhelming. The Celtics understand the position that puts Williams in.
“We’re gonna have to learn on the fly when he gets in, but it should be quick,” Pritchard said. “He reads the game really well, so it’ll be fun playing with him.”
Then there’s the coaching factor. For Mazzulla, it comes down to doing what’s best for Williams from a perspective his teammates can’t provide. We’ve seen it at times with fellow rookie Hugo González and veteran Josh Minott. If Mazzulla spots a miscue he deems inexcusable, he’ll hold the Celtics culprit accountable, often with trips to the bench, animated earfuls, or both.
So with Williams, it’s about finding that sweet spot of trusting the process and establishing a standard.
“It’s keeping the patience on the stuff that you have to teach, and losing your patience on the stuff that has to be non-negotiable,” Mazzulla said. “Regardless of whether you’re playing out in the park or playing in the NBA, it shouldn’t matter. It’s just understanding that the differences are in that.”
Balancing those two sides of patience isn’t easy.
“One of the greatest gifts you can give young players is coaching them hard, because you get into a situation where they may not get that all the time,” Mazzulla said. “I think holding them to the highest standard is something they should want. So I don’t know if it’s impatience as much as it’s, ‘Regardless of who you think you are, I still think there’s a standard we can get to, and we’ve got to do it. That’s just how it goes.’”
The way Mazzulla views the team is the same way he views the roster: it’s about getting the most out of everyone, both collectively and individually. That outlook comes with a caveat — if someone isn’t pulling their weight, Mazzulla won’t hesitate to look elsewhere on the bench for a contributor to get the job done. Against the Trail Blazers, Williams embodied the principles that come with that mentality, doing a little bit of everything while adding an assist, a steal, and two blocks to his stat line.
In January, Williams averaged just over seven minutes across four games. His playing time against Portland nearly matched his combined total (29 minutes) from his first six career appearances over the season’s first three months. Even in a season when Mazzulla has been at his most experimental with lineups and rotations, Williams has had to wait his turn at the table.
Through 10 games with the Maine Celtics, he has averaged 12.1 points, 10.1 rebounds, and 5.1 assists, along with 1.8 blocks, while shooting 60.5% from the field.
Williams, the most recent center drafted by the Celtics, at times even outshone Robert Williams III, the last center Boston selected before him in the 2018 NBA Draft.
Mazzulla admitted that juggling the priority of winning can also heighten the degree of difficulty in player management, which trickles down throughout the entire coaching staff — not just Mazzulla.
“Yes, we do have to win the game, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to play the guys who give it everything they’ve got every single day,” Mazzulla said. “… It just validates the work because if you don’t give them chances to validate them, then they’re not going to work hard. And I think it validates the staff because at the end of the day, I have to speak to Amari knowing that, up until the point he checks into the game, there’s a full level of trust in everything the staff is telling him.”