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Pregame Post-Ups: Rob’s Estimated Recovery is ‘Best-Case Scenario’

Tommy Night Presented By NBCSB

Wednesday, March 30 - Heat at Celtics

Pregame – Williams' Estimated Recovery Time is ‘Best-Case Scenario’

Rob Williams underwent a successful partial left knee meniscectomy Wednesday morning and could return to the court in four to six weeks. In terms of an estimated recovery time, that is the best possible outcome that the Boston Celtics could have hoped for.

The tear that Williams suffered was minor, which allowed the procedure to be minor as well. If all works out perfectly, Williams could return before the start of the second round if the Celtics make it that far.

“The surgery went well, and he has the best-case scenario we could be looking for,” head coach Ime Udoka confirmed Wednesday evening before taking on the Miami Heat at TD Garden. “You look at that four-to-six-week window and look at cases in the past and how fast guys can come back. So he'll hit the ground running pretty much tomorrow and try to get some two-a-day work in and try to ramp it up from there.”

Rather than repair the tear, which would have resulted in a longer recovery time, doctors opted to simply cut out the torn portion of his meniscus.

“Once they looked at the knee, it was (based on) where the tear was at,” Udoka said of the decision. "Cut out vs. sewn up – sewn up is a long-term thing where you’re out for most of the year. (Cleveland Cavaliers guard) Collin Sexton and some guys have had that this year and been out all year.”

Fortunately for Williams, that shouldn’t be the case as long as the Celtics can get out of the first round.

In the meantime, Boston will rely on Al Horford, Daniel Theis, and Grant Williams to step up and fill Rob Williams’ void. Udoka feels fortunate in the sense that the team has plenty of frontcourt depth to help make up for such an absence.

“We feel more confident with the three bigs we’ll kind of spin around, the versatility that they have,” Udoka said. “It’s not the same as Rob from the shot-blocking perspective and things like that, but a lot of the similar things he was doing on and off-ball they’re very capable of.”

- Taylor Snow