NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 9, 2022

Robert Williams

Boston Celtics

Practice Day

Q. You looked like you were feeling just fine last night. Is your body treating you well? Does the extra day of rest mean we see a different Robert Williams?

ROBERT WILLIAMS III: Yeah, you know, the extra days help. But it's up and down so we got to read it day by day. Last night, you’re right, I was feeling pretty good.

Q. There were points last night where it seemed like Warriors’ shooters wanted no part of you. Would close on a guy, the ball would move or he would move. When that sort of discouragement, you're causing that, are you aware of it in the moment, that you're eating up clock, making them go to other options? Has that always been the case for you playing defense?

ROBERT WILLIAMS III: It's kind of been the case. But I don't realize that I'm eating up the clock or whatever. I'm just trying to stop shooters from shooting. Playing against great, great shooters, great players.

Whatever I got to do to stop them from getting a shot up.

Q. A day like this, what are your off days like in terms of taking care of yourself? You don't go through the same activity as the other guys. What is your program?

ROBERT WILLIAMS III: Treatment. A whole lot of treatment. BFR, ice. Same thing over again. Stim, get home, icing, compression sleeves. Just trying to throw everything at it.

Q. I like board games, so when I looked at the first two games, it seemed like chess. Last night kind of seemed like Monopoly, you took over the whole board and bought every piece of property. What is the biggest adjustment from San Francisco to Boston and how much did the crowd play a part in that process?

ROBERT WILLIAMS III: Obviously you always got the sense of comfort when you’re playing at home. But that's something that we didn't want to have, not the sense of confidence, not the sense of being laid back.

Obviously with the nasty taste in our mouth from losing Game 2, wanted to come out, have a big impact, which we did.

Q. You certainly looked like you were feeling good last night. How was it this morning?

ROBERT WILLIAMS III: Feeling good this morning. One of the better days. Like I said, up and down, but feeling good.

Q. Where does the knee bother you the most? Is it running, lateral movement, jumping?

ROBERT WILLIAMS III: You know, it's a little bit situational. Thankfully, when I get out there on the court, adrenaline, energy is carrying me. Some places it might hurt a little bit more, to slide a little bit defensively than running in a straight line.

Like I said, the adrenaline energy carries me.

Q. You said a lot of treatment. For most people who don't have that sort of professional athlete experience, can you walk us through.

ROBERT WILLIAMS III: Yeah, start off usually like a deep tissue massage, back of my calf, front of my knee. Calf stretch. Get some ice, maybe ice one or two times. Wait a couple hours. Really just repeat the same thing.

Q. How much of the day is that encompassing in terms of hours?

ROBERT WILLIAMS III: Yeah, yeah, like I said, I've been playing like this like two, three weeks. I'm used to it. We're in the Finals, man.

Q. Are you off your feet the rest of the time? Are you trying to do as little as possible or keep it stretched out and moving?

ROBERT WILLIAMS III: No, they advised me to stay off of my feet as much as possible.

Q. You made a huge block on Steph Curry. He was talking about you came out of nowhere. You're young, athletic, big. Do you feel you're out-muscling these guys? Do you feel that bodes well going forward in the Finals?

ROBERT WILLIAMS III: I feel like we came into Game 3 and put an emphasis on the lack of physicality that we had in Game 2 obviously.

It's not going to be easy. I can't even sit here and say we're muscling these guys, you know what I'm saying? But we seen something that we were lacking, we got it right.