PHILADELPHIA — Jaylen Brown has seen many wild things in his time. He was standing right there when Gordon Hayward broke his ankle landing in a Cleveland alley five years ago.
Brown did a backflip off the rim once and landed on his head. Just a few months ago, Jayson Tatum broke his face.
But Brown had never seen anything like it.
“When I saw Grant get kicked in the head by a 300-pound person, it was crazy to see that live,” Brown said. “Seeing that in real time was probably the craziest thing I’ve ever seen on a basketball court.”
Brown’s face was right there, staring point-blank straight at the rammer.
“I thought, dammit, I really got stomped on the curb!” Williams told The Athletic. “I got stomped over the curb a bit, but that wasn’t intentional. It’s the playoffs, so expect battles like this. You expect to bleed, you expect to be elbowed. It’s nothing new. For me it was just a matter of getting back into the game as soon as possible.”
Williams was a bit dazed, as you’d expect when a mammoth of human like Joel Embiid lands right on your skull. He wasn’t sure what exactly happened when he dived for the loose ball, but he knew something was wrong.
“As I sat on my knees, all I saw was blood dripping down and I was like, ‘Welp, I have to get out,'” Williams said after the Celtics beat the 76ers 114-102 to take a 2-1 lead . “So I sprinted away, hoping I didn’t need stitches, and then just threw up some Carmex and kept it moving.”
With a trainer working on Williams like a cut-man in a heavyweight bout, James Harden finally scored to make it a two-ball possession game. So, after a minute of play, Williams jumped up, covered his face with a towel, and walked over to Joe Mazzulla.
“I said, ‘I’m fine,’ or something,” Williams said. “Then the doctors checked me out and I thought I was going to go right back in, so I ran and slapped[Mazzulla’s]ass and said, ‘Yo,’ and they were like, ‘Lie back!’ I thought, ‘I’m ready!’ and they said, ‘We know, just wait.’ I was on the edge but it worked.”
What was Mazzulla thinking when Williams was already asking to get back in the game?
“He can handle it,” Mazzulla said.
“Hey man, I’m a little crazy so I was fine,” Williams said. “I can get started.”
As Williams walked back outside, to everyone’s surprise, Embiid walked over to apologize. But he didn’t have to. Williams didn’t care. It was all good. Bloodshed is just part of life when you’re a grinder like Williams.
“I haven’t really felt it until now, but my nose swells up a bit,” Williams said. “But I didn’t feel it in the game. He apologized and stuff. i know joel He’s a great player, a phenomenal player, always with great intentions. It was just a bang bang game and I just wanted to make sure he knew I’m good and we can move on.
Then Williams went in there, and on the very first possession he went low and defended Embiid at the high post. Even after nearly breaking his nose, he put it right into the MVP’s comfort zone. He got the stop on Embiid before the 7-footer hit him on the glass for the second chance point.
It’s not William’s job to win every moment. It’s designed to make Embiid uncomfortable every moment he’s lying on the floor. A pounding wouldn’t stop that.
“He accepted that challenge and put his life on the line,” Brown said. “You see his head slam into the seat and you get up with a smile on your face, that’s Grant Williams.”
That layup was the only fourth-quarter basket Embiid made outside of the near-garbage time of 10 with 32 seconds remaining. Williams, Al Horford and just about everyone on stage managed to shut Embiid down when it mattered most.
Williams’ teammates called him a true pro who rarely played against Atlanta, finished games against the MVP and never missed a shot.
“Grant has been humble all year. It was tough for him. He’s a great part of our team,” Brown said. “We challenged him in different ways and his level of maturity. The ability to play his role, level up and get stops and do what needs to be done regardless of sometimes his emotions and his feelings and how he is feeling in certain situations. It’s like that, man, you can’t ask for anything better.”
Williams didn’t score a point on Friday, but they’re not stopping Embiid from taking over without him falling repeatedly throughout the night.
“Defensively, we were just locked in,” Williams said. “There were a couple of games where we gave up offensive rebounds and opened 3s, but that happens in one game. So we can’t be perfect but our defense was our priority to make sure they have to beat us.”
They held off the Sixers just long enough for Tatum to hit Tobias Harris in the left elbow and torched him three times in a row, putting the game to bed in the last two minutes.
“We’re just trying to be proud of being great on defense but also maintaining our pace and physicality on offense,” Williams said. “Tonight at the end of the game JT did a great job making hard shots and making the right decisions on offense.”
Before the game, Tatum was in the back of the house going through his pregame routine while his friend Embiid delivered a heartfelt MVP acceptance speech. They spend the summers working with their skills trainer, Drew Hanlen. Tatum watched from a young age as Embiid started coming to her gym and rising to the top of the league.
So he understood what that moment meant. He had seen all the work, all the progress, all the struggle Embiid had put in. It helped him see how close he was to achieving the same goal. So when he was asked if he envisioned holding one of these ceremonies one day, he had a simple answer.
“Hehehehehe, yeah,” Tatum said.
“The area was electric tonight, wasn’t it?” said Tatum. “He got his MVP trophy, you could feel the energy it’s like being a competitor in games like this.”
So when the game was on the line, he took over. He found the matchup he wanted, went to his seat and cooked.
“He’s a superstar. He’s one of the top five players in the world and he showed that tonight,” said Malcolm Brogdon. “But he finished a tough game on the road in a hostile environment for us. That’s what superstars do.”
Here the Celtics potentially have the entire NBA at an advantage. They have a team that can get the job done all night and then have Tatum tie a perfect bow over a nice game. He seemed almost pissed that he could barely play on their Game 2 blowout, leaving an ugly box score from an easy win. On a brutal night with dead bodies flying everywhere, he wanted to be the icing on the cake.
“Winning a championship is hard,” said Tatum. “That’s what I heard.”
All he has to do is ask Grant Williams.
The Celtics are up now but that only makes things more difficult. The Sixers have shown they can respond to desperation. Embiid showed in Game 3 that he’s getting stronger and stronger. He will give it his all in Game 4, possibly his last chance to dazzle Philly fans this year. No matter how much Williams’ nose swells up over the next 36 hours, he’ll be ready to go.
“I’ll be fine. (It hurts. Whether it’s important or not, it doesn’t matter,” Williams said. “But we play Sunday at 3:30 p.m. I’ll be good for that.”
Williams immediately got back into the fight as soon as they put him back together. He didn’t want to miss a moment when he competed against the MVP. Compete against the greatest players in the league and pursue your greatest goal in this league.
And he knows it won’t get any easier. For the same reason, his trainer isn’t the least bit happy after they shut down Harden and dealt with Embiid in crunchtime. The closer you get to the finish line, the steeper your climb against a truly competitive opponent.
So what does Mazzulla expect for a crucial Game 4 on Sunday?
“An absolute war.”
GO DEEPER
Bang, bang, baby: ‘Elite’ Al Horford laughs back after his shooting skills were questioned
(Photo by Joel Embiid and Grant Williams after Embiid’s foot landed on Williams’ head Friday night: Matt Slocum/Associated Press)
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