When Grant Williams first entered the NBA, he was hardly a 3-point threat. His teammates mocked him as “Ben Simmons” when he missed the first 25 attempts of his career, and they devised a plan – forgotten at the time by everyone but Brad Wannamaker – for him to “pass out” on the bench when he finally got one to go.
The message during Sunday’s Game 7 was a little different: Ime Udoka, the head coach of the Boston Celtics, said, “I told him to let it fly.” “They’re disrespecting you tonight.”
Williams paid attention and led the Celtics to a dominant 109-81 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, to advance to the Eastern Conference finals. On 10 of 22 shooting from the field and 7 of 18 from 3-point land, he finished with 27 points, six rebounds, and two blocks.
He set career highs for points and 3-pointers made, led the Celtics in scoring for the first time, surpassed Steph Curry’s NBA record3-point attempts in a Game 7 and tied Curry’s record for 3-pointers makes in a Game 7.
Grant Williams career-high day:
27 PTS
7 3PM
18 3PAThat’s the most three-point makes and attempts ever in a Game 7. pic.twitter.com/6qvbxmT4CT
— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 15, 2022
“It’s difficult to get into your own head when your entire squad, about 15 people, walks up to you and says, ‘Let it fly, keep shooting,'” Williams said. For me it was just like, ok, they’re encouraging it, so why not take advantage of it? As time passed, I became more at ease and continued to shoot. Ime cracked a joke. I made 18, which is probably the most 3s I’ve ever made in a single game. It was entertaining, but it was much better that we won.”
Since head coach Mike Budenholzer took over, the Bucks’ general defensive plan has been to protect the paint at all costs, even if it means giving up 3s. In Game 7, they leaned into that strategy, spinning a large roulette wheel in the hopes of landing on “missed 3s.” It didn’t work.
Williams made a wide-open 3 on the first play of the game because Lopez didn’t follow him out to the arc. That could have just been a defensive misunderstanding, but the Bucks chose to leave Williams alone for the rest of the game. Lopez stayed in the paint to keep the Celtics from getting anything easy at the rim, and Williams was challenged to win Game 7.
He accomplished this on the best night of his career. Williams — or “Grant Curry,” as he should now be called per Jaylen Brown — knew he’d have to work hard to improve his shot in order to stay in the league and gain playing time, and on Sunday all of the effort paid off.
Portis got loose in transition and went hard to the rim as the Bucks tried in vain to mount a comeback. “One of those times that you kinda have as a kid when you’re both lining one other up and one of you is going to dunk on the other or the other’s going to block it,” Williams said of the situation.
Williams came out on top, letting out a big shout and fist pump to the euphoric Celtics audience that the cameras, regrettably, missed.
“Tonight, Grant helped us win a playoff game. A Game 7,” Jayson Tatum – who notched up 23 points of his own on the night – told the press after the game, as quoted by ESPN.
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