The Celtics played Al Horford and Robert Williams together nearly every night last season. Not even a mediocre start to the season through January and offensive spacing concerns discouraged Ime Udoka from pairing them. He believed in their early positive defensive returns, and by the end of the season it emerged as the league’s best starting lineup, outscoring opponents by +24.6 points per 100 possessions with a 118.8 offensive rating.
Joe Mazzulla used that group briefly in rotation with Robert Williams III coming off the bench after he returned last month. While the group didn’t hit the ground running offensively, they immediately held opponents below 100 points per 100 possessions. The potential to turn defense into offense flashed scoring potential above the historic five-out lineup approach from early this season.
On Monday, Williams III reunited with the starters in place of Marcus Smart, who sat with a knee injury. Horford landed an alley-oop to Williams III on the third possession, Al’s first assist of the season to Rob in his 10th game back.
“Having two bigs on the floor changes things. It changes your defense. Having both of them on the floor, your defense is gonna be, probably, at its best when them two are on the floor together,” Brogdon told CLNS Media/CelticsBlog at shootaround Wednesday. “Then offensively, they have such different skillsets. To have someone that puts pressure on the rim, but also have someone who spreads the floor, but both guard the way they do, it’s definitely a blessing.”
Brogdon didn’t know if the Celtics will continue to start Horford and Williams III together. They likely won’t against New Orleans and Brooklyn, with Williams III questionable and Horford sitting out of every back-to-back so far this season. That staggering and management of both players requires that the other be available not only in the flow of each game, but each game night with Luke Kornet and Blake Griffin losing favor recently.
Mazzulla, however, expressed intrigue before Williams III even returned in describing how the Celtics can win in multiple ways. He closed Saturday’s win in San Antonio by pairing Horford and Williams III instead of Brogdon, who score 23 points in 28 minutes. Williams III reached 22 minutes off the bench, as he did on Monday as a starter. It’s not necessarily a minutes limit, and more a reflection of the big man’s continued…
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