Grant Williams leads Celtics past Bucks with a huge game seven performance

With a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals on the line in a game seven moment against the defending NBA Champs, it was Grant Williams that sent the Boston Celtics forward. Williams scored 27 points on Sunday afternoon, powering the Celtics to a 109-81 victory against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The former Tennessee Volunteer knocked down seven three-pointers as the Bucks sagged off of him following his cold shooting in games five and six.

In game seven, he made them pay.

Williams shot a staggering 18 times from behind the arc, which was an NBA game seven record. Grant also tied the game seven record with seven three-pointers hit.

The 18 attempts was by design, as the Celtics took advantage of some soft Milwaukee defense.

“I told him, ‘Let it fly. They’re disrespecting you more tonight than earlier in the series,’” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said after the game.

Williams has been praised for his defensive role so far in the NBA Playoffs. He was tasked with guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo in this series, and has truly become a three-and-D role player for Boston. Williams hit 41 percent of his three-point attempts during the regular season and has maintained that number throughout the playoffs.

Lacking size, it was obvious that Grant was going to have to really develop his shot to stick in the NBA. It’s something that started happening in Knoxville with Rick Barnes and it has obviously been fine tuned in Boston.

The Celtics will now move on to face the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. That series is set to begin on Tuesday night in Miami.