Robert Williams leaves play-in game vs. Wizards, officially ruled out

After missing five of the last six regular season games dealing with turf toe, Robert Williams was re-inserted into the starting lineup tonight after several practices in a row without incident. He had received a cortisone shot to deal with the swelling.

With a minute left in the first half, Williams elevated for a block on Russell Westbrook but fell awkwardly on Jayson Tatum’s foot and crumpled to the floor.

Williams remained on the baseline for several minutes after pounding his fist into the parquet and limped to the locker room under his own power, but he was in obvious pain. He’s returned to the floor after halftime, but played only 71 seconds before heading back to the locker room, visibly limping to start the third quarter. Boston has officially ruled him out for the rest of the game after re-aggravating his turf toe.

Only minutes earlier, Marcus Smart appeared to tweak his ankle defending Bradley Beal, left briefly through the tunnel, but returned to the game. The Celtics are down 56-54 heading into the second half.