Grant Williams was barely a 3-point threat when he entered the NBA. His teammates called mockingly him “Ben Simmons” after missing the first 25 tries of his career, and they hatched a plan — forgotten for the moment by everyone except Brad Wannamaker — “passing out” on the bench when he finally got one to go.
The message during Sunday’s seventh game was slightly different: “I told him let it fly,” said Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka. “They don’t respect you tonight.”
Williams listened and carved his way into Boston folklore as he led the Celtics to a dominant 109-81 win over the Milwaukee Bucks and into the Eastern Conference Finals. His final line was 27 points, six rebounds and two blocks on 10-of-22 from field and 7-of-18 from 3-point land.
His big night set a new career high for points and 3-pointers, led the Celtics in scoring for the first time in his career, broke Steph Curry’s NBA record for 3-pointers in a game 7 and closed Curry’s record for 3-point marks in a game 7.
“It’s hard to get your head around when your entire team, like 15 people, comes up to you and says, ‘Let it fly, keep shooting,'” Williams said. “For me it was just, alright, they encourage it, so they might as well use it. Over time it became more comfortable and I kept shooting. I was kidding, I shot 18 and that’s probably the most 3s I’ve shot in a single game in my life. It was fun, but it’s just great that we won.”
The Bucks’ overall defensive strategy since head coach Mike Budenholzer’s arrival has been to protect the color at all costs, even if it means giving up 3 seconds. They leaned towards this approach in Game 7 and essentially spun a big roulette wheel which they hoped would land on “missed 3s”. It has not.
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Williams made a wide-open 3 on play one because Lopez didn’t follow him to the arc. That might just have been a defensive misunderstanding, but the Bucks made a conscious decision to leave Williams alone the rest of the time. Lopez camped in the paint to prevent the Celtics from getting something easy on the rim and challenged Williams to win Game 7.
That’s exactly what he did with the best night of his career. Williams – or “Grant Curry,” as Jaylen Brown was to call him now – knew he had to improve his shot to stay in the league and earn game time, and all that effort paid off on Sunday.
“Not the same, but the bubble from my rookie year, Game 7 [against the Toronto Raptors]’ Williams said. “I knew how intense that was, and getting thrown in the fourth quarter after I wasn’t playing and then getting that stop and block [Fred] VanVleet. I remember going through those emotions. So I thought, this is how this night will be. You have to be prepared for ups and downs. If you’d asked me last year I’d probably be with my head down, keep it moving, but I think the work I’ve put into the league over the last year and a half, two, three years has helped me with that , come here position. Glory not only to God in that sense, but to everyone around me.”
Williams’ shot was the main story, but his most impressive individual moment was perhaps on the defensive end. He excelled there all series and helped lead the Celtics’ effort against Giannis Antetokounmpo. That was one of his main goals again in Game 7, but he also came up with two blocks, including a standout on Bobby Portis, which elicited his most emphatic reaction.
As the Bucks tried in vain to make one last comeback, Portis went easy in the transition and went hard to the basket. Williams was the only one back and said it was one of those moments you kind of had as a kid where you both line up and one of you dips into the other or the other blocks it. ”
Williams took the lead and let out a tremendous roar and a fist bump – which the cameras unfortunately didn’t quite capture – in front of the ecstatic Celtics crowd.
The Celtics’ storied playoff history is filled with unsung heroes: Don Nelson hit a miracle jumper in the closing minutes of Game 7 of the 1969 NBA Finals to secure the title; Gerald Henderson’s late steal and score sent Game 2 of the 1984 Finals into overtime and the Celtics won the game and the championship. PJ Brown came off the bench to make some big shots on the stretch of the Celtics’ Game 7 win of the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals en route to a ring.
While the stakes weren’t quite as high on Sunday, this was still a Game 7 to eliminate the defending champion and the best player in the world, and Williams was only in the starting lineup due to Robert Williams III’s injury. No one will soon forget William’s performance, especially if the Celtics can go ahead and lift another trophy.
“Grant played great tonight,” said Jayson Tatum. “And in the playoffs you need that. You need people coming off the bench to be a star in their role. Grant won us a playoff game tonight, a Game 7. I’m very happy for him.”