Robert Williams leaves game in Cleveland, “pretty tight at halftime and felt a sharp pain”

Per the Celtics, Robert Williams will miss the rest of the game in Cleveland with a sore left knee. According to NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin, Timelord was wincing in the second quarter.

To date, Williams has missed just one game with injury. On October 30th, he sat out against the Wizards with a non-COVID related illness. He’s averaging 11 points, 10 rebounds, and two blocks a game in a large increase in minutes; after playing just nineteen minutes a game last year, he’s up to 32 a night as a starter next to Al Horford. After playing just 61 regular season games in his first two seasons, Williams topped out at 52 in 2020-2021.

Before leaving the game, Williams had played thirteen minutes and grabbed six rebounds. Against the Cavaliers on Saturday night, he stuffed the stat sheet with 12 points, 16 rebounds, and 3 blocks in a marquee matchup against the rookie sensation Evan Mobley. Aaron Nesmith started the second half for Williams.

After the game, head coach Ime Udoka offered this update on Williams: “Rob felt some soreness in the second quarter. I’m not sure if he did something specific to it. It was pretty tight at halftime and he felt a sharp pain, so we kept him out. We’ll see when he gets tested and looked at how he’s going to be.”