In maybe one of the most exciting games of the season, the Boston Celtics eked out a win over the Brooklyn Nets in a double-OT thriller on Friday night. It was a back-and-forth game of runs, 22 lead changes, 13 ties, and no lead bigger than 11 points. With the Nets having lost their last game 120-66, I don’t think anyone expected this game to be as close as it was, but ultimately, the Celtics did what they needed to do to stave off a bitter defeat to one of the league’s worst teams.
With just under
two and a half minutes left in regulation, Boston had a 9-point lead, but a 10-1 flurry by Brooklyn sent the game into overtime. Momentum clearly was on their side, but the Celtics managed to take a 4-point lead with a little over two minutes remaining in the period. Again, the Nets fought back, and this time it felt like they put the nail in the coffin, sinking two free throws to take a 5-point lead with just 8 seconds left. That’s when an unlikely hero emerged.
Between the free throws, Joe Mazzulla subbed Amari Williams in for Baylor Scheierman. Amari Williams – one of Boston’s second-round picks from this year’s draft, who currently is on a two-way contract, and was shooting around with the Maine Celtics that very same morning.
At this point in the game, Neemias Queta and Luka Garza had both fouled out. Chris Boucher and Xavier Tillman, both vets with size, were sitting at the end of the bench. Joe could have gone to either of them, but instead, went with the 23-year-old rookie who flew in on a commercial flight from Portland Maine just two hours before the game, seemingly a last-minute decision after Queta was tabbed “questionable” for the game with an illness.
With that one substitution, Mazzulla saved the game. The Celtics opted not to use their last timeout just yet, having Sam Hauser inbound the ball from the baseline. Sam threw a perfect spiral down to Williams, who jumped up to catch the ball around the opposite free-throw line and touch-pass it over to Payton Pritchard before even landing on the ground. Payton threw a quick pump-fake to get the defender to jump, and then knocked down a massive side-step three to make it a 2-point game with just 3.9 seconds left.
After the game, Pritchard noted that the Celtics had practiced that exact play before, but never with Amari. Williams is known to be a great passer, though, and had practiced the play separately with the rest of the Maine squad. It serves as a testament to the system which the Celtics have set up, an amazing display of continuity and connectivity between both the NBA and G-League teams, something which fellow CelticsBlogger, Nik Land, has previously highlighted on the site. It’s also a testament to the trust Joe has in that system, as well as the players.
Speaking of trust, as we return to the game, the Celtics are still down by two at this point. Thanks to a quick foul and a missed free throw by the Nets, Boston was given a chance to tie the game, a 3-point game with three seconds left. Another smart substitution by Mazzulla, reading how the defense had set up, Joe brought in another rookie, Hugo Gonzalez. That late sub seemed to bring on a defensive miscommunication, which led to maybe the shot of the game, a wide-open corner three for Gonzalez, who nailed the shot to bring on a second overtime.
It was in this second overtime where Amari really made his mark. Williams made just his second field-goal of the season for Boston with 3.5 minutes left in the period, a tough and-one bucket to give the Celtics a three-point lead. He ran in perfect flow with Pritchard, roaming the paint to find an opening as Payton worked the defense to set Amari up.
Immediately after that play, Nic Claxton came barreling towards Williams on the other end of the court, trying to body his way in for a layup. Amari held his ground without fouling, though, and got extremely close to blocking the shot. While it didn’t get recorded in the stat sheet, he still made a huge defensive play, forcing Claxton to miss, and preserving the Celtics 3-point lead.
With just over 40 seconds left in the period, the Celtics held a 4-point lead. Nolan Traore, one of Brooklyn’s many rookies, was having his best game of the season, 21 points on the night. With a sneaky fake-handoff, he was able to split Baylor Scheierman and Pritchard for what seemed like an open layup, but Williams, who was guarding the corner, recognized and reacted quickly enough to slide over and swat that shot away at its peak, another massive defensive play.
That block is ultimately what sealed the game, a final score of 130-126.
Through all of that, Amari played just 5:05 minutes while making an immeasurable impact on the game. This was only his ninth game with Boston, but this performance is already having fans asking themselves, why haven’t we seen more of him?
He was thrown into the game at the end of overtime after having spent the morning with a different team, and the entire rest of the night on the bench, yet he managed to look like a vet out there. He displayed incredible maturity, and everyone took notice. After the game, Mazzulla said “for Amari to be able to sit there the entire game and be ready to execute some of the plays that we’ve run over in practice, it’s a credit to him and the coaching staff that work with him, getting him ready to go.” Pritchard shared the same sentiment, while also adding that the Celtics are “lucky to have” Williams.
Following the double-OT thriller, the Celtics find themselves on the second night of a back-to-back, facing off against the Chicago Bulls. After 58 minutes of gritty basketball, there will be plenty of tired legs, which could very well create another opportunity for Amari to take the floor, especially considering Queta was already questionable for the game with Brooklyn.
Regardless, it seems like Brad Stevens found another stud in the draft. Williams made a very compelling case to see more minutes up in Boston, and if he’s able to string together more performances like this one, maybe he can even see that two-way converted into a standard contract before the end of the year. His future certainly looks very bright.
