Robert

Williams

It has been a few seasons since Williams was playing a full-time role, but he is a player that can make a massive impact in limited minutes. That was on full display in this series, and while it wasn’t enough for the Trail Blazers to pull the upset, he is clearly still a valuable player. He’s set to be a free agent this summer, which will be a complex situation, given his injury history. Wherever he ends up, he’ll likely make a big impact on a value contract.

Williams played 23 minutes off the bench in the victory and had 11 points and nine rebounds. The 28-year-old center also had a put-back dunk and got fouled with 15 seconds left in regulation to put the Trail Blazers up by three. He’ll continue to have a significant bench role in this series.

Williams is good to go after tweaking something in his lower back during Friday’s loss to the Mavericks. He’ll take on his usual backup center role, which means Yang Hansen may only see action if the game gets out of hand.

Williams appeared to tweak something in his lower back during the second quarter of Friday’s loss to the Mavericks, and he did not play after halftime. If he can’t play on Sunday, the Trail Blazers may call on Yang Hansen to fill out the rotation since Jerami Grant (calf) has already been ruled out.

Williams looked uncomfortable after landing on the court after completing an alley-oop dunk late in the second quarter. The Time Lord tweaked something in his back and is now done for the night. The Trail Blazers will likely go small when starting center Donovan Clingan is not on the floor.

Williams will be good to go after initially being listed as questionable. He’ll continue to make an impact in limited minutes, which will make him a difficult player to be worth rostering.

Friday’s game is not part of a back-to-back, but Williams is still on the report for injury management reasons. If he’s unable to play against the Mavericks, the Trail Blazers will likely play starting center Donovan Clingan for a few more minutes while going small when he isn’t in the game.

Williams is set to return after sitting out Monday’s win over the Nets, which was Portland’s second game in as many nights. He’ll resume his usual backup center duties, with starter Donovan Clingan potentially playing a few minutes less than he normally would.

Williams missed Monday’s game, which was the second of a back-to-back. He is on the injury report again, but he should be back to take on Milwaukee and fill out the backup center minutes.

Monday’s game is the second in as many days for the Trail Blazers, so Williams’ absence is unsurprising. Starter Donovan Clingan may pick up a few more minutes, with Portland going small when he isn’t in the game. Yang Hansen’s best chance at playing time would be if the Trail Blazers led by a large margin.