The Boston Celtics got a hard-fought victory against the Brooklyn Nets in Game 2, erasing a 17-point deficit in the win. The Celtics took a 2-0 series lead with the win. If that wasn't good news enough, the Celtics got even better news on Friday. It was initially reported that Boston's center Robert Williams could return. Well, according to ESPN's NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski, Robert Williams intends to return on a limits restriction for Game 3 Saturday. If all goes well, he will play a significant amount of minutes in Game 4. All of this is of course barring some sort of setback.

The Celtics had the best defense in the NBA this season. During the second half of the season, their defensive metrics were miles ahead of every team in the league. Much of that had to do with the presence of Williams, along with 2022 Defensive Player of the Year winner Marcus Smart.

In Game 2, the Celtics defense held Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to 8-for-30 shooting from the floor. Durant was 0-10 in the second half, marking the first time in his career (playoffs or regular season) that he took at least 10 shots in a half and did not make any of them. An argument can be made that it was one of the best defensive performances Celtics and NBA fans have seen in a very long time. They did it without their big man.

Now it appears as though he is returning. There has been lots of chatter about the pending return of Ben Simmons, but he hasn't played basketball in a year. It's much more likely that the Celtics center will have a bigger impact on this series. Prior to his injury, he was a top-5 candidate for defensive player of the year himself.