NEW YORK – Life comes at you fast in the NBA. Especially if you are a rookie on a two-way contract.
As the Boston Celtics held their shootaround in lower Manhattan ahead of a matchup with the Brooklyn Nets, Amari Williams was at the Portland Expo Center — home of the Maine Celtics — taking part in Maine’s shootaround as they prepared to host the Greensboro Swarm later that night.
But with Boston opening the first of a back-to-back in Brooklyn and Chicago, and Neemias Queta appearing on the injury report with an illness, plans changed … and quickly.
“I flew in two hours before [the game] from Maine,” Williams said. “I thought I was going to play there tonight. Neemi wasn’t feeling great, so I flew in today.”
The second-round pick out of Kentucky has spent most of his rookie season in Maine, where he is averaging 14.6 points on 60.9 percent shooting, 11.3 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and 1.7 blocks across 19 games. Before Friday night, the 23-year-old had appeared in just eight games for Boston, totaling 47 minutes, most of which came in garbage time.
However, with both Queta (fourth quarter) and Luka Garza (first overtime) fouling out, opportunity knocked, and the rookie answered.
He checked in with 7.9 seconds remaining in overtime, the Celtics trailing by five, and immediately made what may go down as the most underrated play of the game.
Using his big frame, Williams acted as a jump-ball wide receiver on a play the Celtics call “touchdown,” catching a full-court in-bounds pass from Sam Hauser near the free-throw line and quickly flipping it to Payton Pritchard. Pritchard pump-faked a defender and buried a three, cutting the deficit to two and saving Boston’s final timeout.
It was a play Williams has practiced with the parent club, and it was executed perfectly, with Hauser — an avid Packers fan — hitting Williams in a sequence that looked like Aaron Rodgers to Richard Rodgers on their walk-off Hail Mary against the Lions. Williams then capped it by delivering a perfect pass of his own, fitting for a big man whose 115 assists last season at Kentucky were the most ever by a seven-footer in program history.
“That’s something that he has worked on,” Mazzulla said. “He’s obviously a good passer. That’s one of the best things he does on the offensive end.”
Following the Pritchard three, Boston immediately fouled Brooklyn’s Nolan Traore, who split his free throws and gave the Celtics a chance to tie the game. Because the Celtics had preserved their final timeout on the “touchdown” play, Joe Mazzulla was able to insert another rookie, Hugo Gonzalez.
Out of the timeout, Gonzalez found himself alone in the corner.
With 0.4 seconds remaining, his three-point attempt splashed through, tying the game and forcing a second overtime — the biggest shot of his young career.
“That was great. That was a big-time shot from the rookie,” said Jaylen Brown. “He’s been playing well all season. And to see him make that shot for us to get a big-time win, that was a big moment for us as a team, and a big moment for him, too.”
In the second overtime, Williams played all five minutes, finishing an and-one layup after smartly relocating from the dunker spot on a Pritchard drive to complete a three-point play. He then delivered the game-sealing block with 40.6 seconds remaining, preserving a 130–126 lead that held for the final.
He finished the night registering only 5:05 minutes. But all 5:05 were essential.
“Just shows his character,” Payton Pritchard said. “To be ready to play after sitting on the bench for like two hours and then come in and check in like — that’s big time. I think it’s a culture thing. Always having the right people around. And it shows that guys are ready.”
Over an 82-game season, you need everybody.
And on Friday night, it was two rookies who helped turn what would have been one of the worst losses of the season — the Celtics led by nine with under 2:20 remaining — into one of the most exhilarating wins of the year, improving Boston to 28–16, the fifth-most wins in the NBA.
“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,” said Mazzulla. “And I’d say the same thing for Hugo’s mindset. Those guys made some big plays.”
“Just stepping up in big moments, it’s just unbelievable,” added Pritchard. “Hugo hitting that shot, checking in late. Amari coming in, having an and-one, big block, rebound, it’s just impressive. We’re lucky to have them.”
For the Celtics, those moments also highlighted the value of continuity between the parent club and its G League affiliate — two teams running the same system, preparing players for nights exactly like this.
“When you have moments like this where a guy like Amari comes out and plays well, it’s just a credit to the continuity. The continuity of what Phil [Pressey] is doing in Maine, what the Maine staff is doing, what our PD team is doing, and what the assistants are doing before the game, and so that you don’t really miss a beat because of the continuity on where guys are at, so you have a trust that he’ll always be prepared.”
Related
