Boston Celtics forward Grant Williams was a playoff hero last year, but this week, he has been more of a scapegoat. After confidently stating that he'd hit two clutch free throws versus the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, Williams proceeded to miss both en route to a disappointing overtime loss. Many fans are wondering how has the former Game 7 hero fallen so far from grace?

According to Celtics reporter Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Williams has been dealing with a ligament strain in his shooting elbow. While some might question the timing of this news, he even missed a mid-February game against the Milwaukee Bucks due to elbow swelling.

Since the inflammation is impacting his shooting arm, Grant Williams' recent regression begins to make more sense. Last season, the 24-year-old shot 47.5% from the field; this season he's shooting 45.6%. His 3-point percentage has also decreased and most notably, his career-high 90.5% conversion rate from the charity stripe last season is now just 81.1%.

With this nagging injury in mind, Williams' desired contract of around $20 million per year seems far away now. Since the All-Star break he's seen his minutes dip too, as the forward is averaging around 18.3 minutes during those seven games versus his normal 27.3 minutes per game.

Williams isn't the only one in a rut though, as the C's themselves are 3-4 since the All-Star festivities ended. The forward's free-throw blunder definitely put him in the spotlight, but the Celtics as a whole are banged up and struggling right now.

Via John Schuhmann:

The Celtics are 11-10 against the other 6 East teams with winning records. 11-3 in regulation. 0-7 in overtime.

The Green Team still holds the second seed in the Eastern Conference and they have a chance to snap a three-game losing streak on Wednesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers. The C's also have a relatively clean injury report, so this is a game they must win to remain comfortable in the standings.