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Celtics coach Brad Stevens talks Timelord’s fouling vs. Sixers’ Joel Embiid

Justin Quinn
·2 min read

While it might not have been his most shining moment as a Boston Celtics starting center, big man Robert Williams III did his best against an MVP-caliber big man in the Philadelphia 76ers’ Joel Embiid, and Celtics Head Coach Brad Stevens defended the Texas A&M product’s performance against him after the Celtics 106 – 96 loss to the Sixers on Tuesday.

Embiid lived at the free throw line in that game, connecting on 19 of 20 attempts from the stripe — and while Timelord was certainly guilty of creating a handful of those attempts, he was far from the only culpable party on the roster that night.

“Yeah, Rob’s got a lot to work on,” explained Stevens, “He’s a guy that’ll get better.”

"I knew coming into the game that Rob -- my biggest concern with Rob -- was him staying on the court," added the Celtics coach, referring to Williams' tendency to foul Embiid early and often.

"He's got to get better with his hands. He's got to get as far as keeping his hands straight up and those types of things. But you see, [Joel] Embiid's got all the tricks, and he takes advantage of every little bump. And so he did that to everyone on our team, not just Rob."

"But, if I had to guess going into this game, Rob was probably going to foul a few times in the first couple of minutes, which is just part of it," he added. https://twitter.com/TheCelticsWire/status/1379838995346157569?s=20

"As much as you talk about it and he knows it, it's still different when you're out there guarding," explained Stevens. In truth, it was the team's lack of ball movement, turnovers, and inability to get themselves to the line that combined to doom the team's effort against the East's first-place franchise. And while it might have been a letdown for Timelord, it should be seen more as a small temporary setback than any kind of judgment on the big man; there are truly few in the league who'd have done much better with that matchup. This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook! [lawrence-related id=48702,48695,48693,48689] [listicle id=48708]

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