Should Al Horford continue to be the starter with Robert Williams coming off the bench?
While it's certainly not all his fault, the Celtics have struggled offensively in the three games Williams has played since returning from knee surgery, losing all three.
With Williams out again Friday night due to a non-COVID illness, the Celtics offense took a step forward in a 121-109 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
In Williams' 57 minutes this season, the Celtics' effective field goal percentage is just 43.8%, compared to 57.1% with him off the court. Their offensive rating dropped from 118.5 without him to 107.5 with him.
When you don't play with a teammate for 29 games and a whole offseason, it's naturally going to take some time for the Celtics to get used to how to play with Williams again. Everyone else has had a lot more time to build chemistry with each other and get more in sync than they've looked with Williams.
The Celtics have gotten used to playing with Horford as their No. 1 center, with some Luke Kornet and Blake Griffin mixed in. Horford is very good three-point shooter, as evidenced by his 5-of-10 performance Friday night in a game in which he had 17 points and 11 rebounds. Even Griffin can shoot threes.
That's a different dynamic than when the Celtics play with Williams, who is not a three-point threat at all.
Yes, basketball is much more than three-point shooting, but the main reason why the Celtics have been so successful this season is because of their ability to put shooters around Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
When Williams is on the court instead, it's one less three-point threat for opposing defenses to worry about. That can alter the Celtics' spacing and Tatum and Brown's options when defenses collapse on them.
When discussing poor shooting, interim coach Joe Mazzulla said, "We created this expectation that you can't be losing and playing well at the same time. I think that's possible. I believe it's possible to be playing well and losing. I think it's also possible to be playing sucky and winning."
Last season, the Celtics' offensive numbers were virtually the same with and without Williams on the court, so it's not like he has a history of hurting the offense. Boston has also hit a shooting slump recently in general.
But the offense did clearly evolve under Mazzulla this season and was operating at a record-setting pace at one point. Williams was sitting on the sideline for much of that evolution, so now the challenge is getting him up to speed and continuing to evolve with him.
