Robert Williams officially out vs. Heat tonight

The Celtics have officially downgraded Robert Williams from doubtful to out vs. the Miami Heat tonight as he deals with left foot turf toe. Obviously, this comes on the heels of the team ruling out Jaylen Brown for the rest of the 2020-2021 season with a left scapholunate ligament tear. He’ll have wrist surgery later this week and is looking at a 3-6 month recovery time that should make him available at the beginning of next season.

Williams did not return after halftime of Sunday’s matinee. Head coach Brad Stevens said afterward, “too uncomfortable to keep going. It could be gametime decisions every day. We may have to sit him — I don’t know what the deal is right now. But that’s obviously something that we’re going to have to manage because I think I played Tristan (Thompson) about fifteen straight minutes there in the second half. So, there some challenges ahead with that.”

After tonight, Boston will head to Cleveland to face the Cavaliers in a back-to-back game. Depending on tonight’s outcome, the Celtics still have an opportunity to avoid the play-in tournament, but a loss against the Heat all but seals their postseason fate. Boston is currently two games behind Miami and Atlanta in the loss column and would not have neither tie break if they finished the year with identical records.