NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 7, 2022

Grant Williams

Boston Celtics

Practice Day

Q. What is the atmosphere going to be here?

GRANT WILLIAMS: The atmosphere, we know how TD Garden. There's nothing like it. So we're just excited to get these fans in this building for tomorrow really because, as you know, it's been what, 12 years since they've been in the Finals and 14 years since they won it? I know they're just as excited to be in here and celebrate this team as much as we are.

For us, it's just a matter of using that energy and trusting our fans because they're going to be there to support us.

Q. Playing in this building, wearing that uniform. How much have you manifested what it's going to feel like to walk in here for Game 1?

GRANT WILLIAMS: Yeah, I do it every single day. Every single time I walk into this arena, I look up at those banners. Manifest another one, the impact it will have on this franchise, organization, not just the two Js, but everyone on this team.

For us, that's the number one thing. That's the number one goal. Anything less is -- nobody is happy about Eastern Conference championships in Boston. You know what I mean? For us, it's just a matter of understanding what we are determined to and where our (indiscernible) is going.

Q. How physically and mentally exhausting is it guarding these guys when they have five guards in the lineup?

GRANT WILLIAMS: Yeah, you just have to be prepared. I feel like these guys, it's more cardio than anything else. You have to be willing to not relax and chase those guys around. The physicality side of things, we have to do a better job of impacting the game ourselves.

In terms of mentally and physically, it's just a matter of trusting that we have enough guys where we're going to be fine after the game, after all is said and done. Playing with all that intensity and all that effort from the get-go to the end, that's the number one thing.

Q. Are they a sneaky physical team? They're not necessarily big, but they're always up there on the glass?

GRANT WILLIAMS: Yeah, they have a lot of long rebounds. They have a lot of physical players, like in a sense. Looney and those guys. Wiggins may not necessarily look it, but he's an athlete that puts a lot of pressure on you on the offensive glass. I think those two are the two leading offensive rebounders in the Playoffs right now.

Just understanding exactly who those guys are and taking those guys out of the series, that's the biggest thing, because those other guys are more so having to make the shots. Those guys make it easier for the other guys to get open looks.

Q. Has it been a bigger adjustment than you thought after dealing with the physicality of the previous series?

GRANT WILLIAMS: I don't know if it's a big adjustment, just because how our defense is set up. We understand exactly who we are, what we want to accomplish and what we want to set forth.

At the end of the day, we have to continue to trust. Sometimes I feel like when things don't necessarily go (our way), we go away from the things that are working. Next thing you know, it goes even higher.

We try to take away everything, which is not what you can do in the NBA. For us, it's a matter of taking care of things we understand. Giving up the shots we want to give up, and taking the shots that we don't.

Q. What is your mentality about trash talk?

GRANT WILLIAMS: I'm a responder more so than anything else. If anybody wants to, I can get into it with you. At the end of the day, it's not something that I would naturally come out and do.

Even though my personality is talkative, I'm not necessarily going to come bash people. To me, it's kind of exhilarating. It's kind of fun. As much as someone can go at it, get in another guy's head, so can you.

At the end of the day, it's not something we'll ever back down from, myself especially. I really enjoy it. It's really fun.

Q. How do you deal with Draymond in that regard? You're not going to back down. He's going to talk a lot. Do you change with him given how he can change the game with how he gets guys engaged?

GRANT WILLIAMS: No, not really. I feel like a little bit of it is you don't necessarily see other guys doing it to him. You can't be so overwhelmed or overcome by it as a team. One guy does it, then one guy does it. You don't let one guy affect eight others.

At the end of the day, you're going to have a guy go at it, you have somebody go at it with him and you keep moving. That's what they do. That's the Warriors' plan. You don't see Looney or Wiggins or Steph or Klay or Poole, none of those guys really talk trash. That's just how you respond to it.