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Robert Williams after losing NBA Finals: ‘It will never stop hurting’

HoopsHype
·8 min read
9

Keith Smith: Rob Williams on how long this loss will hurt: “I won’t stop hurting, to be honest. We’ll get back to work…We gotta be better. But it will never stop hurting.”
Source: Twitter @KeithSmithNBA

What’s the buzz on Twitter?

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
Ime Udoka said Rob Williams made a lot of progress on the court, but a big part of it is being available and he has to strengthen the muscles around his knees and be in even better shape next season. – 12:02 AM

Mark Murphy @Murf56
Rob Williams said the only plan for his knee this summer is “rest.” – 11:57 PM

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
Rob Williams: “I’m so proud of my guys…The way we fought through adversity and bounced back, obviously I wish we did it throughout the post season. But I just loved going to war with those guys.” – 11:54 PM

Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Rob Williams: “I’m so proud of my guys. The way we fought through adversity and bounced back. I just loved going to war with those guys.” – 11:54 PM

Jay King @ByJayKing
Robert Williams: “I’m so proud of my guys. … The way we fought through adversity and bounced back. … Just loved going to war with those guys.” – 11:53 PM

Tom Westerholm @Tom_NBA
Rob Williams seems like he’s really hurting right now (and I’m not talking about his knee). – 11:53 PM

Jay King @ByJayKing
Robert Williams said every Warriors possession was purposeful. Said Golden State realized that and the Celtics didn’t. – 11:52 PM

Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Rob Williams on how long this loss will hurt: “I won’t stop hurting, to be honest. We’ll get back to work…We gotta be better. But it will never stop hurting.” – 11:52 PM

Tim Bontemps @TimBontemps
Robert Williams on when it is time to move on from the pain of losing this series: “It don’t stop hurting. It never stops hurting until we get back in this position again.” – 11:52 PM

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
Rob Williams: “We got to be better.” – 11:52 PM

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
Rob Williams on what he learned from the Warriors: “Every possession is purposeful. The team in that locker room realized that and we didn’t. Have a meaning in everything we do.” – 11:52 PM

John Karalis @John_Karalis
Robert Williams says the only thing his knee needs is rest this offseason – 11:51 PM

Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Rob Williams on what his knee needs this summer: “Rest.” – 11:51 PM

Jay King @ByJayKing
Robert Williams on what his knee needs this offseason: “Rest.” – 11:51 PM

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
Rob Williams says he will only need rest for his knee this offseason. – 11:51 PM

Tim Bontemps @TimBontemps
Robert Williams says his left knee only needs rest to heal. – 11:51 PM

Adam Himmelsbach @AdamHimmelsbach
Robert Williams: The team that played the hardest won tonight. – 11:51 PM

Michael Pina @MichaelVPina
Rob Williams: “The team that played the hardest won tonight.” – 11:50 PM

Jay King @ByJayKing
Robert Williams: “We just couldn’t withstand the runs. Messing up. The team that played the hardest won tonight.” – 11:50 PM

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
Rob Williams on the season: “We fought through a lot of adversity but we lost.” – 11:50 PM

Tommy Beer @TommyBeer
Plenty of shrewd decisions by Brad Stevens in his first year on the job – but locking up Robert Williams via an extension was huge…. He’d command major money if he hit free agency next month – 11:09 PM

TJ McBride @TJMcBrideNBA
Stunned how much Robert Williams has been able to give these Celtics considering how bad his knee seems to be. He’s emptied the tank and done everything in his power. Championship effort regardless of who holds the trophy at the end. – 11:07 PM

Omari Sanfoka II @omarisankofa
Robert Williams is ridiculous – 11:06 PM

David Morrow @_DavidMorrow
Insane block by Rob Williams, right after a brilliant pass. Dude is so special if he can stay healthy. – 11:06 PM

Mike Prada @MikePradaNBA
I’m not sure why the Celtics don’t run more offense through Robert Williams at the elbows. – 11:05 PM

Gary Washburn @GwashburnGlobe
That’s a tough call on Robert Williams. #Celtics – 11:03 PM

Nate Duncan @NateDuncanNBA
Boston -18 in the SEVEN Horford-only minutes. It’s incredible, they really have absolutely no chance to stop Golden State with Rob Williams out of the game. – 10:12 PM

Ryan McDonough @McDNBA
The Celtics are lucky to just be down 15 – their bench didn’t give them anything in that half
The 4 starters minus Rob Williams may need to play the whole 2nd half – with Rob playing as many minutes as he is able to – 10:09 PM

Kevin O’Connor @KevinOConnorNBA
Al Horford posting up Steph Curry with solid positioning, Robert Williams in the dunker spot, and the play results in a heavily contested floater by Jaylen Brown. The Celtics half court offense is hideous. pic.twitter.com/KnC71iNdfK – 10:09 PM

Meghan Triplett @Meghan_Triplett
Robert Williams the block machine – 9:57 PM

Dan Favale @danfavale
the celtics throwing lobs to rob williams pic.twitter.com/kDHANXZcEL – 9:55 PM

Stephen Noh @StephNoh
Rob Williams has one good knee and he’s doing this. pic.twitter.com/6B18x27mN9 – 9:54 PM

Kyle Neubeck @KyleNeubeck
Robert Williams has been listed questionable (at best) for most of the playoffs and then the game starts and he throws his body around like he’s a crash test dummy, i respect the hell out of it – 9:54 PM

Tim Bontemps @TimBontemps
Robert Williams has made a couple of insane plays here in the last minute or two as Boston is trying to drag itself back into this game. He just absolutely erased a Stephen Curry layup. – 9:52 PM

Jay King @ByJayKing
That Robert Williams block was incredible. – 9:52 PM

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
Ime Udoka is changing the Celtics’ lineup rotation and bringing in Payton Pritchard with Rob Williams for his mid-quarter sub. This is when Grant Williams would usually come in, with Pritchard subbing around the 3 minute mark. – 9:21 PM

Monte Poole @MontePooleNBCS
Derrick White enters for Rob Williams III. Warriors will break the paint . . . – 9:18 PM

Gary Washburn @GwashburnGlobe
Robert Williams circles the TD Garden floor prior to tip-off, looks up at all the fans and smiles brightly. #Celtics #Warriors #NBAFinals2022 – 9:07 PM

Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Celtics starters for NBA Finals Game 6:
Robert Williams
Al Horford
Jayson Tatum
Jaylen Brown
Marcus Smart
Warriors starters:
Draymond Green
Otto Porter Jr.
Andrew Wiggins
Klay Thompson
Stephen Curry – 8:33 PM

Keith Smith @KeithSmithNBA
Robert Williams is available to play in Game 6, per the Celtics. – 7:43 PM

Marc Stein @TheSteinLine
The Celtics say Robert Williams is available for tonight’s Game 6. – 7:32 PM

Jay King @ByJayKing
Celtics will use the same starting lineup tonight. Ime Udoka said Robert Williams has no minutes restriction. The Celtics have still been conscious of his playing time, but he played 18 minutes in the second half of Game 5, including almost all of the third. – 7:21 PM

Ben Rohrbach @brohrbach
Celtics coach Ime Udoka said the team is ready for “business as usual.” Wants to get out to a good start and keep the crowd engaged in the game.
Robert Williams III will start. – 7:21 PM

Joe Vardon @joevardon
Celtics coach Ime Udoka says he’s staying with his starters (so, Robert Williams and Al Horford). No adjustment to the Porter-for-Looney move by Steve Kerr from Game 4. – 7:19 PM

CBS NBA @CBSSportsNBA
Celtics’ Robert Williams III details playing through knee injury during NBA playoffs: ‘It gets to me a lot’
https://t.co/RR0SITeOqg pic.twitter.com/FLbtEaSiPv – 5:08 PM

Kurt Helin @basketballtalk
Isaiah Thomas on Celtics telling Robert Williams he won’t make injury worse by playing through it: ‘Heard that before’ nba.nbcsports.com/2022/06/16/isa… – 4:00 PM

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
New: Robert Williams is shooting 88 percent in the NBA Finals but has only taken 18 shot attempts in the series. A look at why and how the Celtics might try to get him involved more offensively in a do-or-die Game 6 masslive.com/celtics/2022/0… – 9:31 AM

More on this storyline

Keith Smith: Ime Udoka on Jayson Tatum: “This is only the start of how you’re going to be guarded and the attention you will draw.” Udoka added: “I think this is the next step for him. Figuring that out. He’s hurting, but he’s a great player. High IQ player. He’ll use this to propel him.” -via Twitter @KeithSmithNBA / June 17, 2022

Keith Smith: Ime Udoka said he told the Celtics players and coaches: “Don’t come back the same. Let this motivate you to come back better.” -via Twitter @KeithSmithNBA / June 17, 2022

Malika Andrews: Only two opposing teams have won it all in Boston: the 1985 Lakers And now, the Golden State Warriors. -via Twitter @malika_andrews / June 16, 2022