“That was impressive from Amari, I’m not going to lie.”
Amari Williams played in his first professional game Wednesday night against the Pistons (Erin Clark/Globe Staff).
While the Celtics are missing their starting center Neemias Queta with an ankle injury, they seem to have found a suitable replacement.
Amari Williams, who the Celtics selected in the second round of the 2025 NBA Draft, made his NBA debut in the Celtics’ win over the Pistons on Wednesday night after getting called up from the G League. The rookie was actually thrown into the deep end against Detroit, who had a league-best 13-game winning streak at the time of Wednesday’s game, playing 15 minutes as he scored a point and secured three rebounds.
“I didn’t have any idea I was gonna play, to be honest,” Wiliams told CelticsBlog after Wednesday’s victory over the Pistons.
Williams, who played his college ball at Drexel before transferring to Kentucky, had played well for the Maine Celtics prior to his call-up. The 6-foot-11 center averaged 12.7 points and 10.7 rebounds in the G League.
“Amari Williams, he’s a monster,” Maine Celtics head coach Phil Pressey said earlier this month. “I think he has a high upside.”
While Williams’s stats from Wednesday’s game don’t seem like anything special to look at, he made his mark defensively. He was given the task of guarding Jalen Duren and helped hold him to just 12 points, in contrast to the 20 points per game he is averaging. Along with this, Williams added two blocks and grabbed the final rebound to secure the victory.
This performance by Williams earned him praise from Celtics leading scorer Jaylen Brown.
“That was impressive from Amari, I’m not going to lie,” Brown stated post-game. “He hasn’t been with us, a lot of pressure, high-profile game, to come in and make an impact? Credit to him.”
Brown went on to describe what aspects of Williams’ game impress him, as it looks like he will rotate in while Queta is hurt.
“Amari has talent,” Brown continued. “He can pass the ball, he’s a big guy, knows the game. That was a big time performance from him.”
There is still no designation for how long Queta will be out, with Joe Mazzulla just saying it’s day-to-day, but that he’s making improvements. In the meantime though, Mazzulla will be grateful they’ve found a solid big-man, giving him options if he doesn’t want to play his small-ball lineup.
The Celtics next play the Minnesota Timberwolves Saturday evening, as they look to win their third in a row.
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